


Lost and Found

by Spoonsandthings14



Category: Supernatural
Genre: F/M, Hunter - Freeform, friends with Gabriel, slowish burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-26
Updated: 2018-05-15
Packaged: 2019-03-24 03:46:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 25,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13802736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Spoonsandthings14/pseuds/Spoonsandthings14
Summary: The reader is an old friend of Gabriel’s and is staying at the Bunker while she secretly figures out how to save him from Asmodeus. Things take a turn when she falls for a weakened Lucifer who is staying at the Bunker. Cue rescue missions, heart-to-hearts, and badass hunters.





	1. Chapter 1

Sighing, you ran your hand along the books in the Bunker’s library. Three other books were already resting in the crook of your other arm, making you fidget slightly with them because of the weight. Your fingers found the spine of a leather-bound book with a Latin title that roughly translated to ‘of angels and fire’. You added it to the rest of your pile and set-more like dropped-them down on a table, taking one and opening it up as you sat. Dust pillowed as you did so making you cough. The paper was old and wearing and you squinted, trying to read the smeared ink translation along the sides and bottom of the pages. You would have thought the Men of Letters would have translated the works more carefully or at least more efficiently but perhaps that was just the nerd in you leaking out a bit. Dean had always laughed at you and Sam for your affinity for Lore but even he was glad for it when a hunt needed a lot of research. You had spent the last week in the bunker and the majority of that time was spent in the library. 

“And here we find (y/n) in her natural habitat,” Lucifer caught your attention with his mocking narration and you looked up at him with your best ‘bitch face.’ He sauntered over to your table and leaned forward so that when you looked up you were awkwardly close to his face. 

“What do you want Lucifer,” You cracked a smile at him, he was often annoying but you didn’t really mind having him there. Oddly enough, you had started to think of him as a friend, “I’m working.”

“Ahh, I didn’t think Dean and little Sammy had a case,” You realized the slip of tongue and looked back up at him from your book.

“Reading then, Luce,” He smiled at you and leaned back. He kind of liked the nicknames that you gave him. You glanced up at him just as he decided to flick his tongue over his lips. 

“I’m bored,” He shook his shoulders dramatically and leaned forward again, a bit closer this time so you could feel his breath on your forehead, “I wanna have a little fun, this place sucks the life out of you,” He finally moved back and you looked back up at him, quirking your eyebrow.

“Sorry this place ‘sucks the life out of you’,” you said sarcastically, “But I’m reading, maybe we could do something later,” He looked at you with surprise briefly evident on his face before twisting his features back into fake annoyance and sighing.

“I’m starting to think you’re Samantha’s long lost twin,” he groaned as he walked out of the library, disappearing down the hallway. You returned your attention to the book for a moment but eventually closed it with a sigh and leaned forward, rubbing your face with your hands. It had been a few weeks since you caught a lead on Gabriel. You had thought he died. You had mourned him but despite your best efforts, you couldn’t really say you had moved on. Apparently, he was captured by someone name Asmodeus but you weren’t sure exactly who or what that was, how long ago Gabriel was captured, or what exactly had been done to him. It drove you nearly insane feeling so close to finding him but not knowing enough about the situation to take action. That was why you decided to spend your time pouring over the books in the library. You needed to find out everything you could about Asmodeus. Granted, you knew you could ask the boys but you didn’t want them to know. They didn’t have the fondest memories of Gabriel and they were always very protective of you. You couldn’t risk them interfering. It mattered too much. It was just happenstance that led you to becoming best friends with an archangel over five years ago but you were glad that you had. You sighed again and tapped your fingers on the book’s cover. God, it had really been that long since you met him. I smile ghosted over your lips as you thought over your first interaction.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Can I help you mam?” the young cashier chimed from behind the counter. Her dark hair was cut just below her chin line, allowing you to see the flesh-toned band-aid on the side of her neck. 

“No thank you, just looking,” You gave her a curt smile before disappearing within one of the isles. It was a relatively cute candy store, completely unassuming and slightly vintage with glass jars of candy lining the walls. You pretended to shop, filling a small plastic bag with various treats when the bell on the front door chimed, catching your attention. You peeked around the shelf to see a short sandy-haired man stride in with an odd grin on his face. He tipped his head as if he was wearing a hat to the cashier and vanished into the aisle right in front of yours. You returned your attention to the jars, moving along the aisle, deciding rather arbitrarily which to fill your bag with. You jumped as a pair of whiskey eyes met yours in between the colorful jars. As soon as you had seen them they disappeared only for the man to peak the side of the aisle to yours. 

“Hiya Cupcake,” He smiled with just his head visible but righted himself and made his way over to you. 

“Hi,” you returned quickly, glancing back to the cashier as she left the counter and disappeared through a door in the back of the store that you assumed led to a sort of storage portion of the shop. 

“I’m Gabriel,” he introduced himself, making you turn your eyes back to him, who had gotten a bit closer to you with a wide grin still on his face. You nodded in acknowledgment. There was something almost mischievous in his expression that was a bit contagious. The rustled a bit as if someone turned the nob but when you looked it hadn’t opened.   
“Probably best to keep an eye on her, I’m betting on a least five Vamps back there,” You looked at him in disbelief. Shit, you clutched the strap of your backpack tightly, ready to swing it if you needed to in order to grab your machete you had hidden in it. He saw you tense and chuckled, lifting both hands in a surrender motion, “calm down, none of my pearls are particularly pointy,” He smiled widely so you could see all of his teeth. Your grip loosened but your glare still held all of its suspicions. 

“You’re a hunter?” You questioned.

“Not exactly but you’ll be needing that machete soon cause-” He was cut off by the sound of a small explosion in the room behind the counter. Sure enough, the cashier and five others flooded out, most of them bent over in coughing fits. You wasted no time in grabbing your machete and running out from behind the shelf, dropping your bag of candy. Two of them caught your eye through coughs, their fangs immediately showing as they lunged for you. Dodging the first one, she crashed into the shelf behind you, making them all fall like dominoes, the jars smashing on the tile floors and the various sweets spilling everywhere. You kicked the second one directly in the chest before swinging hard, connecting the machete with his neck. It got stuck and brief panic shown in your eyes as you saw another charging you from the side. Pulling with everything you had, it finally released and you turned to the large man running toward you. You braced yourself but the Vampire suddenly stopped, his eyes developing a blank stare before his head fell off completely, revealing a blood-splattered Gabriel behind him. You wasted no time, finishing the job with the previous Vamp and making your way to the partially conscious Vamp who had crashed into the shelves. Your eyes darted up, as you gripped the machete tight but the other two and the cashier were lying dead on the ground. You sighed and leaned over to catch your breath. You nodded at Gabriel who hadn’t even broken a sweat but instead looked slightly annoyed. 

“Well, I’m not gonna say that wasn’t badass, cupcake, but I just came for some fun,” He looked around the store a moment, “And the candy.”   
“Most of it’s probably on the floor but if you pick through the glass I’m sure there’s plenty of candy,” you quipped and he grinned at you, placing a lollipop in his mouth, which was odd given that you hadn't seen him pick up or unwrap one. 

“(Y/N),” you finally returned his introduction, extending a hand to him. He shook your hand firmly and popped the lollipop out of his mouth.

“Pleasure,” he winked.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You had retired to your room in the bunker for about an hour when your heard knocking on your door.

“Ya,” you called out, pausing your music that was playing on your phone from the side table. 

“Movie night,” Dean’s excited voice sounded from the other side of the door. You smiled and opened the door to find him grinning down on you as he leaned on the doorway.  
“Who’s pick?” you asked.

“Mine,” he grinned wider and you groaned, “Oh, come one I had to sit through Sam’s weird sci-fi movie and your Rocky Horror whatever that was, It’s my turn.” He turned to walk down the hallway.

“Your turn to torture me,” You called after him laughing. He turned on his heels so he could smile at you and then continue to walk down the hallway. You returned to your room to swipe the fuzzy blue blanket off of your bed before making your way to the area of the bunker was probably once used for meetings. The chairs on one side of the long wooden table had been moved to the other side so that two small couches could fit in the space and an older tv was set on the table facing them. One of the couches was meant for three but you figured out quickly that this meant regular sized people and not the giants you found yourself with so you had hauled the other two-seater couch from an unused room somewhere in the back of the bunker. Sam was already reclined on the larger couch, bickering about something with Dean who was popping a disk into the DVD player beside the tv. You tossed your blanket on the couch and turned to them 

“I’ll grab the popcorn and the beer,” Sam smiled at you as you turned to walk back to the kitchen. Sam had already put the popcorn bag in the microwave so the alarm went off just seconds after you walked in. You grabbed the bag a bit too quickly, burning your hand, “Ahh shit,” You cursed under your breath as you snapped your hand from the bag. 

“Careful,” Lucifer warned from his leaning position against the back wall. You glared at him, grabbing the bag more carefully this time and emptying it into a bowl and skillfully retrieving three bottles from the fridge with a single hand. 

“We’re watching a movie. It’s Dean’s turn to pick so there’s no way it isn’t a western but sometimes they're so bad they’re good.” Lucifer frowned at you as if the notion itself was ridiculous.

“Come on,” you picked up the popcorn bowl and stopped beside him on your way out, “You said you were bored. It’s probably not what you had in mind but it’s something,” You moved passed him and handed the beers to Sam and Dean, setting your own on the floor next to your seat and settling into the couch with the popcorn in your lap. To your surprise, you saw Lucifer following behind you and he took his seat beside you on the couch. Both Sam and Dean gave him an odd look for a moment but Dean pressed play on his movie and dropped down next to Sam, taking a long draw from his beer. Your legs were criss-crossed so that they slightly overlapped with Lucifer’s as the movie began and you ate a few pieces of popcorn from the bowl.


	2. Chapter 2

You found yourself again amongst smeared ink and the old, but pleasant smell of the books in the bunker’s library. It had been hours of either deciphering poorly scribbled English or the various mother languages the books were written in. Your eyes were growing tired and began to blur the lines together so eventually you closed the book and groaned, standing up to leave. Just as you pushed the chair in Lucifer turned the corner and began to swagger up to you. 

“Why are you in here so often anyway?” He asked you and you thought for a moment before answering.

“Just reading, not really much else to do,” you decided on that response but he scrunched his face at you. 

“Oh, there are plenty of things to do,” He winked, earning an eye roll from you. He was standing beside you know, running his long fingers over the books you had strewn over the desk, “Interested in angels and hell are we?” You elected to ignore him but a slight smile crept on to your face as he looked at you with his signature devilish grin. 

“Why don’t you go bother the boys, Luce?” He wasn’t really bothering you that much but teasing each other had become a bit of a game between the two of you. 

“They’re no fun, besides I think you actually like me,” He grinned again, touching his fingers to his lips.   
“I put up with you,” you retaliated, tapping your thumb on the chair you were leaning against.

 

“Hmm,” He hummed leaning closer to you, “Perhaps, but you don’t hate me,” Lucifer paused, “You aren’t afraid of me,” His last few words sounded more sincere than the rest but his expression hadn’t changed. 

“Should I be,” You laughed. He was right, you guessed. You had only known him for a little over a week but fear was definitely not a word to describe your feelings toward him. 

“I’m the devil,” He said dramatically, “The prince of lies,” He brought his fist up and shook it in front of his face causing you to laugh a little, “The essence of evil.”

“Ya, trust me, I’ve seen evil and it looks nothing like you,” You laughed with the words and he looked down at you with something unreadable in his icy eyes more a moment, “You aren’t the first Archangel I’ve met,” The words slipped carelessly from your lips but you realized immediately what you had said. 

“Is that so?” He turned to you a bit more intently, silently imploring you to continue. 

“Um, ya,” you rubbed the back of your neck, refusing eye contact, “I know Gabriel.” You finally met his curious eyes.

“Gabriel?” The words left his tongue like they were foreign.

“I met him a few years ago on some random hunt. We actually became good friends.” Silence enveloped the two of you for a moment and a sort of emotion overtook his features that you had never seen on him before. 

“I don’t know Luce,” you attempted to break the tension and silence, “I guess I’ve always thought of us as friends or at least something of the sort,” You place a hand on his shoulder before walking out of the library to go find Sam.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
You breathed heavily as the sound of your tennis shoes thudding the concrete filled your ears. You liked going running with Sam, mainly because it was really quiet around the bunker and he was good company. 

“You know, I think Lucifer has started to take a shine to you. If you want I can tell him to leave you alone,” Sam was turned around, jogging in place, as he spoke to you. You continued running past him and he ran beside you.

“No, Sammy,” you laughed, “We actually get along,” You saw Sam’s expression twist a bit, “Besides, I won’t be around much longer,” Both of you continued running for a few yards.

“What do you mean?” Sam stopped, towering over you as he creased his brown. 

“I mean,” You continued to breathe slightly heavily, still catching your breath, “I plan on taking off soon. I love you guys and It was great seeing you again but I’ve got some things to take care of,” You trailed off slightly and sighed as Sam continued to stare down at you, his hands finding their way to his hips that, in another situation, would have made you laugh. 

“You know (Y/N) if you're caught up in something we can help you,” The sun was a bit bright, causing you to squint up at him.

“I know Sammy,” You smiled, before continuing to run, stopping after a few feet because he hadn’t moved, “Well, come on,” You grinned and his worried expression turned to a smile as he jogged behind you back to the bunker.  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The shower squeaked slightly when you turned the water off. You wrapped a grey towel around yourself and stepped out into the bathroom. The tile floor was cold on your bare feet but the bathroom was pleasantly warm from the shower steam. Making quick work of drying off, you dressed in an old t-shirt and flannel paired with a pair of lounge shorts. Your wet hair slightly dampened your shirt. As you walked down the hallway, a certain tall blonde angel strode up beside you. 

“I was thinking we still haven’t done anything fun,” You stopped to look at him as he wore a haughty grin.

“What would you suggest?” He shrugged.

“Raise a little havoc, move to L.A. solve crimes,” He suggested and you laughed, messing with your damp hair, “You’re no fun,” he added hoping to coax the evident contrarian in you.   
“I’ve been a bit busy,” You were looking up at him as he stared at the ceiling, flicking his tongue over his lips as he thought. Suddenly, his eyes snapped back to yours. 

“Come on, one risk,” he requested, “Something you’ve always wanted to do or just something,” he wiggled his fingers, “Not boring.” You glared at him, contemplating your response. You allowed a grin to ghost over your lips as an idea popped into your head.

“Fine, I do one thing and you leave me be?” He nodded, opening both of his arms in a waving motion as if he was giving the floor to you. A certain mischievous glint was evident in your eyes and he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious. You stepped forward, closer to him and Lucifer simply watched you, unsure of what you were doing. He wasn’t sure where he had been headed with the conversation but was completely taken by surprised as you crashed your lips against his, standing on your toes slightly and moving a hand to the back of your neck. You pulled away from his chilled lips but he chased yours, connecting them again, as he pressed you against the wall. Your other hand ran delicately up his chest and you hummed as his tongue ghosted across your lower lip. He pulled back slightly and you took the opportunity to slip from his grasp, leaving one last chaste kiss to his lips before retreating down the hallway, a wide grin on your face as he watched you walk away, speechless.


	3. Chapter 3

Rubbing the back of your neck with one hand, you poured a cup of coffee with the other. Steam billowed from the mug as you filled it, nearly to the brim with the black liquid. Taking a small sip, careful not to burn your mouth, you started out of the kitchen but Lucifer quickly appeared, blocking your path. 

“Starting to think you’re avoiding me,” He pouted, pretending to be hurt.

“I’m not avoiding you, Luce,” you laughed, pushing past him. 

“Hmm,” he hummed, clearly not convinced as he followed you to your room.

“Just busy,” you attempted to shut the door to your room but he stopped it with his hand, allowing himself to walk in before he shut it behind him. You looked up at him and sighed, placing your coffee on the side table before standing across from him near the door, “What?” you questioned but his eyes weren’t on you. Following his gaze, you saw the half-packed duffle bag on your bed. 

“You’re leaving,” it was more of a statement than a question and his usual haughty tone had changed suddenly.

“I am,” you paused, tearing your eyes from the bag, “But it has nothing to do with you,” You smiled, teasing him slightly. 

“What does it have to do with?” You furrowed your brow at him. His tone was unfamiliar and not a hint of a smirk was on his face. You looked away from him, favoring the floor. Maybe he should know. It was his brother after all but you still couldn’t risk him coming along. A deep sigh escaped your lips and you finally connected your eyes to his again. 

“I got a lead,” you paused, breathing in, “On Gabriel,” His intent expression turned to confusion. 

“Gabriel is dead,” Something caught in his throat with the words.

“Apparently not,” the floor once more, held your gaze, “Word is, he’s captured,” you continued, “Some Demon playing king. I don’t know much else but if there is even a chance he’s there I’m going to try.” An unreadable mix of emotions had swept over Lucifer, whose eyes were fixed on you absently, as his thoughts were elsewhere. 

“He can’t—I,” You had heard the stories. Sam and Dean had relayed it to you casually long ago. 

“Maybe not,” you held onto his arm in reassurance as he turned his face away from yours. The way he looked now reminded you of the Lucifer you had heard about from Gabriel on one of the late nights you had spent chatting with him.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“You know, if you eat all of the batter we won’t have anything to bake,” Gabriel groaned at your words, withdrawing his spoon from the brownie mix. You looked over at him and laughed, throwing your hands up in defeat, “Fuck it, fine.” Turning the oven off you grabbed a spoon and jumped up on the counter, dipping it in the brownie mix. Gabriel smiled and resumed his place beside you, “You know Gabe, you still haven’t told me much about you,” you said in between licks off your spoon.

“What do you wanna know cupcake?” He beamed up at you, eating a rather large spoonful of brownie batter. You leaned back in thought, eating another spoonful of batter.

“I don’t know, I mean you lived pre-well pre-everything, What was it like?” You were leaning closer now, curiosity evident on your face. Gabriel chuckled a little.

“It was,” he thought for a moment, trying to find the right word, “beautiful, My brothers and I watched stars being born, watched the rivers being carved into the earth, and had a hand in a few things too,” His last few words held some humor in them and you’re mind jumped to around to the different oddities in the world. Ever since you met him, you had this feeling he probably had something to do with the ludicracy of the platypus, “Things changed. It was a hierarchy, not a family anymore and when Dad sent Lucifer to the cage I left,” he paused, trying to make himself sound happy again, “Carved out my own little corner of the world, met you,” You smiled at him.

“Glad you did,” you wiped a bit of batter on his nose and he scrunched his face at you.

“Oh, you started it,” He threatened and you immediately jumped off the counter and ran, laughing out of the kitchen, with him close on your heels.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“I’m coming with you,”Lucifer’s voice snapped you out of your thoughts.

“Like hell you are,” He was looking down at you and you could tell by his expression he was set on coming along, “You’re still running low on grace and-”

“I’m still Lucifer,” he cut you off and you sighed, setting your jaw in frustration. 

“Fine, we’ll leave in a few days.” You were glancing down again and you just now noticed how close you had gotten to Lucifer. One of his arms had made its way around your waste and you could feel the chill of his skin radiating off of him. With the other hand, he lifted your chin up to him and brought his lips down to yours.

“It’s a plan,” he whispered the words against your lips, sending a chill through your body. You kissed him back, pulling his body closer to yours. Naturally, you wrapped your legs around his waist as he hoisted you up, spinning you around quickly and dropping you on the bed. You grinned up at him as he looked down on you, his face flushed and his eyes darkened. You scooted back on the bed and he followed you, skimming his hands under the hem of your shirt before pulling it over your head. His lips found ours again as his fingertips ran up your back. You moved to deepen the kiss but he froze. Pulling away, you looked at him questionably but he was looking at you the same, fingers still tracing your back, running over the raised lines across it. Oh, it clicked in your mind and you turned yourself around so that he could see your back. You had two elaborate wings, reaching down to your lower back with their tips just touching your shoulders. They were scared into you with small inked enochian along each line. 

“What happened,” his voice was tender as he ran his cold fingers, lightly over the individual lines. 

“I was captured a few years back, a group of demons,” you felt him tense when you mentioned demons, “For some reason, they thought I had some insight on what was going on   
with the angels, which of course I didn’t but they gave me those for my silence. I guess one of them used to be an artist,” you paused, mentally tracing the feathers, once bleeding and raw, “Oddly poetic I suppose. Later I added the ink, it’s an Enochian warding spell.” Both of you sat quietly for a long time as he continued to trace the wings, leaving soft kisses against your neck from time to time. He lingered on a symbol tattooed near the small of your back. 

“Protection from me,” you realized he must be examining his symbol you had added to the spell. 

“Just covering all my bases,” you turned around to face him, “I didn’t know you then.” He leaned forward, capturing your lips once more and climbed on top you as you kissed him back.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The sleep slowly left you as you shifted in your bed. The sheets were cool against your skin and you hummed rolling over and snuggling closer to Lucifer. Wait, Lucifer? You sat up, rubbing the lingering tiredness from your eyes. He was fast asleep, mouth slightly parted as he laid on his back. You smiled but you hadn’t realized till now just how week he was. He had seemed normal, strong since you met him (especially last night) but sleeping, sleeping you knew wasn’t normal for angels. You groaned, softly so you didn’t wake him, as you finally left the sheets’ comfortable embrace, pulling on a pair of jeans and an old band tee Dean had given you. Sliding the duffle bag from under the bed, you packed the gun and salt that were lying on the side table and, with one last glance at Lucifer, stepped quietly out of the room. According to your phone, it was nearly 7:00 which meant Dean was still asleep but—just as the thought crossed your mind you caught a glimpse of Sam in the kitchen making coffee. Making sure his back was turned, you shuffled past the doorway and crept up the stairs, careful to shut the heavy door with caution.


	4. Chapter 4

The streets downtown were quiet with most of the stores just opening. You had been here a few times before but things always seem different in early mornings, the shop doors creaking open like they were old men groaning, but refusing to retire. You were glad now that you had grabbed your worn leather jacket before leaving as a slight breeze whistled through the streets. A suit-clad figure came into focus as you neared one of the corner shops. He was relatively short for a man and his shoulder-length red hair was slicked back. You caught his eyes and he dropped the cigarette he was holding on the ground, grinding it into the concrete sidewalk with his shoe. 

“Tony,” you smirked a little, adjusting the duffle bag on your back and extending a hand. He took it, his hand clammy and cold.

“(Y/N)” he greeted, returning his hands to his pockets, “It’s been a long time,” He waved his hand to the door before walking inside, you followed him into the nearly empty cafe and took a seat near the window. 

“Thank you for meeting me,” Your body was stiff but you tried to be polite. His permanently mocking smile was plastered on his face. He looked pretty much the same as he had three years ago. The silence and his stare made the air awkward and you clicked your tongue, “Look, we don’t need to sit and pretend that we like small talk. I need to get into hell and I know,” You paused, “I know that’s your specialty.” His grin grew and he leaned forward, tapping his fingers on the table.   
“Well then, what do you have in mind for payment,” You jaw set and you glared at him before leaning back in your chair, glancing briefly out of the window.   
“How about you owe me, given that I saved your ass. We both know you got to keep your job and your life because I hunted down that little shit that kept terrorizing the vail.” His features had twisted slightly, his nostrils flaring as he listened to you begrudgingly. 

“Now, you listen to me,” Tony had jumped forward, coming out of his chair slightly with one of his hands pressed firmly on the table and the other fashioned tightly around your wrist. You tensed further, rage beginning to boil in your chest. A movement caught your attention from the corner of your eyes. You both looked to the side to see an older women staring at you with a worried expression from behind the counter. Tony released your arm, sitting back down and you gave her a curt smile so that she eventually disappeared again into the kitchen, “I don’t work for free.” 

“Like I said, you owe me. I need to get to hell and back as soon as possible,” you stopped, gauging his expression before standing up next to the table and looking him in the eyes, “Besides, I think you forget, I am in the business of killing monsters such as yourself. I would prefer a working relationship.” Without waiting for him to say anything, you pushed outside into the brisk air, you back to the cafe’s door as you started down the street. 

“(Y/N)” his voice sounded behind you and you stopped, smiling but not turning around, “I’ll take you.” You finally faced him.

“Alright then.”   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The soft light of the morning had faded abruptly into the harsh reddish light of Hell’s hallways, the grimy stone walls only contributing to the uneasy feeling you had. The distant grumbling of demons echoed through the halls. You turned around to say something to Tony but he had backed away from you, his annoying grin once more plastered on his face. 

“Now that my work’s done,” he started.

“I need to get deeper, into the dungeons and I still need to get out of here,” Thar rage had returned, twisting itself into momentary fear.

“Not my problem sweetheart.”

“Tony!” You reached for his arm, your voice joining the echo of screams and demons, but just as you went to close your hand around him, he had dissipated, “Shit! Shit, shit, shit” you cursed, mumbling to yourself. The sound of murmured tones grew louder, grew closer, and you took off down a branch of the hallway. God, they all looked so similar, like you were stuck in a fever dream maze. You turned a corner, running directly into a tall female demon, who stumbled forward upon impact. Gathering your wits as quickly as possible you wrapped your hand around her mouth, pulling the demon knife from your waistband and plunging it into her side. A muffled groan escaped her and you eased the body to the ground, careful not to make a sound before you kept running down the corridors. You knew Sam would kill you for stealing, well borrowing the knife, but that was going to have to wait. You kept running, choosing which turns to take arbitrarily and killing the few demons you came across. If you were honest, you were hoping that one of the hallways you ran down would lead you to Gabriel but you had no way of knowing if you were getting closer or further away. You didn’t even know if you found the dungeon if Gabriel would be there. Finally, by some miracle, you found yourself in what seemed to the dungeons, a slightly wider hallway, lined with thick wooden doors, fortified with steel hinges. You ran to the first one on your right, peering into it through the small barred window. A small dark-haired woman was chained in the back and you were half convinced she was probably dead. The next two were empty but your heart lept and immediately fell as you looked into the next cell. 

“Gabe,” his name fell from your lips in a horse hushed tone and you could feel your chest tighten. There he was. There he was with hair matted with blood, with a shirt no longer white, with his lips—Oh God. He had noticed you and snapped his head up eyes wide and you saw the blood stained on his face and the fresh droplets of it around his mouth—sewn shut.

“I’m getting you the hell out of here,” You tore your eyes away from his, dropping to your knees in from of the door’s lock and throwing your duffle bag on the ground beside you. Using the set you had tucked away in one of the pockets, you began to pick the lock, your tongue sticking out ever so slightly as you did so. ‘Click’ the lock opened but a sharp pain pulled at the back of your head as you were yanked to your feet by your hair. Instinctively, you pushed yourself backward, knocking the demon off of you. You spun yourself around, coming face to face with a middle-aged blonde man with pitch black eyes. You gripped the demon blade as it lunged forward, pinning you to the wall by your throat. You swung at it, managing to slice its arm but he only retrieved for a second, opting to grab a handful on your hair and slam your head against the stone wall. You kicked backward as hard as you could, blood partially obscuring your vision, and grabbed it by the back of the neck, pulling it to you as you stabbed the knife into its chest. The body slumped to the floor and you wiped the knife on your jeans, returning it to its place and opening the cell door. You made quick work of his chains, glancing back to the door periodically to make sure no one was coming. As his shackled finally clanged to the floor, his arms found themselves immediately around you and you held him tightly. Finally, you both pulled away and you looked up at his face, no longer full of the boyish joy that once characterized his features. You placed a hand on his cheek, careful not to touch an opened wound.  
“We’ve gotta go.” He was heavier than he seemed as you hoisted him to his feet, his arm draped over your shoulders for support, “Hold up,” He held himself up on the wall outside of cell while you through the duffle back on you back, returned his arm, and headed down the hallway. You had painstakingly made your way down multiple passageways when both of you stumbled back, eyes widened, as a demon flew around the corner, smacking into a wall and sliding to the floor. Your hand found its way once more to the knife as the red lights created an eerie shadow of whatever was lurking around the corner. You could hear your heartbeat in your ears as it came to rest in your throat. Gabriel’s entire body tensed as the shadow grew smaller, the figure getting closer, and your knuckles became white from the strength of your grip. The figure finally stepped from around the corner, tall, blonde, Lucifer? 

“(Y/N),” His voice croaked with worry, his harsh expression softening as he immediately put Gabriel's other arm around him, easing the weight on your shoulders. With the extra help, you and Gabriel were able to move faster down the halls.

“What are you doing here,” You couldn’t say you weren’t slightly relieved but your frustration and worry was more dominant now. 

“Somebody left without me,” Lucifer bit the words angrily at you. You glanced over at him as you continued down the halls but his eyes were set firmly forward. The corridors began to seem familiar and you felt like you were nearing the point where that asshole reaper had brought you. You felt your heart lift slightly only to fall again as three demons headed straight for you. Lucifer helped to set Gabriel down and you tossed your bag beside him, taking one of the demons while Lucifer took the other two. It punched you straight in the gut, making you real backward out of breath but as it stepped forward, fully intending on taking advantage of your position as you caught your breath, you sliced its leg open then, flipping your blade, drove it straight through its head from under the chin. Another demon lied dead close to Gabriel and the last bit of life left the other when you turned to see Lucifer holding it by the neck against the wall at least two feet from the ground. You through your bag back over your shoulder and repositioned Gabriel, helping him back up. 

“What do we have here,” A dark-haired man in a white suit spoke with a thick southern tone as he stepped dramatically over the demon sprawled on the floor in front of him. 

“Asmodeus,” Lucifer growled. Asmodeus? You immediately straightened, your eyes darkening as you glared at him. You moved your hand holding the knife ever so slightly but he seemed to notice and with a snap, it had dropped to the floor and you had slammed into the far wall, stuck like you were glued two feet off of the ground. In an instant Lucifer joined you, grunting as he connected with the stone just inches from you. You pulled with everything you had but to no avail. Asmodeus stepped forward, his smile making your blood boil as he placed a hand on Gabriel. 

“Fucking great, we’re pinned to a wall by Kentucky Fried Chicken,” You whispered through gritted teeth to Lucifer. 

“What’s a matter,” Gabriel tensed as Asmodeus tapped his head, “Cat got your tongue?”


	5. Chapter 5

Here you found yourself, kneeling between two Archangels in the throne room of hell, surrounded by demons, with some white-suited kingpin pacing in front of you. It had taken them several attempts to get any of you to kneel, with Lucifer being the last of you. 

“Well aren’t ya’ll a pretty sight,” Asmodeus smeared, continuing to pace. There was something about his tone that sent a shiver down your spine, not from fear but from something else, like the feeling when you find a bug crawling across your arm, “And I heard you are quite cozy with the Winchesters,” He held your jaw firmly between his thumb and pointer finger, making you look up at him, “Could come in handy.” 

“Shove it up your ass, KFC,” you bit the words out at him and he sneered, pulling his hand away. You knew Gabriel would have laughed at that if he could, despite the tension that pushed down on everyone. He stopped a moment where he would usually turn and pace back toward Gabriel and he laughed a short laugh that was more of a disgruntled puff of air. Asmodeus turned back to you and backhanded you across the face—hard. Pain radiated through your skull and you opened your jaw, moving it around so that the ache dissipated. Your nostril flare and you returned your glare to Asmodeus’ smug expression. Gabriel and Lucifer’s eyes were wide and wild just like yours but none of you uttered a word. You saw Lucifer move instinctually out of the corner of your eye and you quickly placed a hand on his arm because, for a second, you genuinely thought he was going to attempt to kill Asmodeus right then and there. After looking you over a moment Asmodeus turned on his heels so that his back was to the three of you. As soon as he was facing away, you moved your hand to your back pocket and slowly pulled out the satellite phone you had tucked away. Keeping your eyes fixed on Asmodeus back, you brought the phone in front of you just before your knees. Only then did you let your eyes peel away from the white of his suit in order to type Dean’s number and slip the phone back into your pocket. Not ten seconds had passed when Asmodeus turned back around, a haughty grin spread on his face, slightly hidden beneath the expanse of his beard. His eyes flashed yellow as he stepped forward and, for the first time since you arrived there, you felt your stomach turn as a hint of fear crept in and settled in your shoulders. 

“I do suppose,” He started again, adding a dramatic draw to his words, “it’s quite nice I got myself some quiet ones, otherwise,” Your body tensed as he stepped toward Gabriel, lifting his chin as he had done to you, “I’d have to teach you,” He let out a small chuckle as he ran a finger over the stitches on Gabriel's mouth, making him cringe with pain. A deep laugh emanated from your left and you turned your head to see Lucifer, his head down and laughing. All of you watched him as he slowly drew himself up to a standing position, continuing to laugh. 

“Asmodeus,” Every bit of Lucifer’s usually cocky charm seemed to instantly return as he stood just a foot from the current king of hell. A smile ghosted across your lips as you watched him but you remained just as tense, rigidly watching the events unfold before you, “playing king of the castle, tsk tsk tsk, you were always the dimmest light bulb on the string,” Lucifer cocked his head, bringing one finger up in front of his face, “The game is over. You can step down now,” there was something forced in his tone that made you worry. 

“Please,” was all Asmodeus said as he waved his hand, sending Lucifer, feet extended behind him, across the room. He landed on his stomach with a thud of the floor and a groan from him as he hit, continuing to slide backward a foot or two. His action had pulled you to your feet, rage evident in your eyes, “Oh, that got a reaction did it,” He extended his hand as if he was going to grab you by the throat but froze as something small hit the ground, bouncing once, before clanging to a stop. Your eyes widened in horror and Asmodeus was quick to swipe the phone off of the floor. Without a word he glanced at it and hurled it across the throne room, where it smashed into a stone wall, shattering upon impact, “Now that won’t do,” He reached out again, this time sending you flying without even touching you. You landed on your back next to Lucifer, the ground unforgiving as your breath was knocked from your lungs. You coughed, expelling more air before breathing in deep staggered breaths as you rolled over to your side. The grimy floor was cold against your cheek and you lifted your head up so that you didn’t inhale the dust across it. Gabriel was standing now and you could only see the back of him from where you laid but something told you his eyes were filled with the same wild intensity you had only seen a few times before. Asmodeus looked at Gabriel and then back to you and Lucifer before gesturing to his demons on either side of you. 

“Take the girl and the angel to the cells,” as soon as he spoke you felt the rough hands of one of the demon’s yank you to your feet, “But leave him with me,” he pointed to Lucifer, who had made it to his feet as well and for the second time that day, you felt your stomach turn with anger and fear mixing together in a sickening combination. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey, Dean?” Sam walked into the Bunker’s kitchen as Dean was pulling some sort of leftovers from the microwave, “Have you seen (y/n) anywhere?” 

“Nope, have you checked her room or the library?” Dean sat at the table, smiling contently at the food in front of him.

“She wasn’t in either of them,” Sam’s brow was knitted with worry but Dean seemed unconcerned. 

“I’m sure she’ll show up eventually. She’s a big girl Sammy,” He took a large mouthful of the heated up noodles.

“I would think so but the other day she told me she wasn’t going to be sticking around much longer.” Sam took the seat across from Dean, “And I can’t find Lucifer anywhere either.” This got Dean’s attention and his relaxed expression tightened as he looked up from his food. 

“You don’t think—” 

“I don’t know what to think Dean,” Sam cut him off as Dean quickly got up from the table and walked out of the room. He returned a moment later with his phone in his hand. He kept his eyes glued to it as he sat down, using his thumb to open it and click something. 

“I didn’t have it on me but there’s a voicemail from (y/n)” They both looked at the phone intently as Dean placed it in the middle of the table and clicked ‘play.’ For a second all they could hear was slightly heavy breathing and a shuffle of someone’s feet but soon Asmodeus’ voice, muffled by something, came through the speakers. 

“I do suppose it’s quite nice I got myself some quiet ones, otherwise, I’d have to teach you.”   
A laugh came through the phone that didn’t belong to the original voice and both Sam and Dean leaned in ever so slightly. 

“Asmodeus, playing king of the castle, tsk tsk tsk, you were always the dimmest light bulb on the string.The game is over. You can step down now.” 

“Lucifer?” Sam looked at Dean with a still worried expression. His eyes widened as a loud crash and a distant groan followed Lucifer’s voice. A shuffling sound came through the speakers and Sam’s surprise lessened as he listened closely again. Asmodeus’ voice began again but was cut off by a loud clanging noise. There was a scraping sound, followed by a loud crash and the voicemail ended. Dean put the phone in his pocket and stood up from the table.

“Welp,” He rubbed his face, “Let’s go get her Sammy.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You sat on the cool floor of the cell, the same cell you had pulled Gabriel from hours before. Your eyes ran over the dark walls, stained with dirt and blood. You felt restless, angry, trapped, in the small corders. Gabriel had been in here for God knows how long and it was unimaginable to you. You had been locked up before sure, being sliced and bruised periodically kind of came with the job, but Gabriel being in a place like this made your skin crawl. The dim hazy light, combined with the lingering feeling of the demon’s hands on you, made you acutely aware of the lines across your back. You mentally traced them, your mind going over each feather, remembering them as they once were, bloody. The sound of someone shifting snapped you from your thoughts and you looked up at Gabriel, who was seated on the cot in the back of the cell. He was staring at you, his eyes softer now. You pushed yourself off of the floor with a groan, the dull ache in your chest still very present, and sat next to him. 

“You know, if that jackass demon hadn’t found my knife on my ankle, I’d be getting those goddamn stitches out of you,” Your voice was laced with bitterness but you tried to sound gentle as you took his hand. He squeezed your hand in response and shrugged. You released his hand and ran both of yours across your face. “I wanted to get you out of here not get both of us and Luce,” you gestured to the cell door, “Stuck in this place.” Gabriel turned his head to you and wiggled his eyebrows. A hint of a smile barely pulled on the edges of his lips. 

“What,” you looked at him curiously, “I really hope you don’t find this funny,” You gestured around the room, exasperated, “cause if you do that’s seriously fucked,” Gabriel looked down and shook his head. The distant screams had faded into the background but a sharp familiar scream broke through them, causing you to jerk your head up. It sounded again and you ran to the cell door, your ear pressed against it with one of your hands futilely trying to open it, “It sounds like Lucifer,” you croaked out, pushing on the door again. You turned to Gabriel, tears streaking down your face, “We have to get out of here.”


	6. Chapter 6

You had pounded on the door until your knuckles bruised and your blows became slow, staggered, and half-hearted. You slid to the floor as Gabriel watched with sad eyes from his place on the cot. You hadn’t sat for twenty seconds when the cell door flung open and your eyes met a tall, stocky demon with slicked back charcoal hair. He grabbed you by the arm and jerked you up to your feet, dragging you into the hallway. The adrenaline in your body had immediately began pumping and you barely had time to think before you found yourself head butting the demon and sliding form his arms. He gave a curt groan of pain and surprise but his arms were longer than you anticipated as he secures you once more before you could take two steps. You elbowed him in the gut and he spun you around, shoving you roughly through the still open door so that you landed with a thud on the floor. You heard a muttered ‘bitch’ before the thick metal door slammed shut. You simply lied back on the floor and sighed, glancing up at Gabriel who was looking down at you with a Quirked eyebrow. 

“Don’t” you groaned out, rubbing the red handprint still lingering on your arm. You heard Gabriel’s voice in your head calling you ‘hot head’ and for a second you weren’t sure if you were imagining it or if he somehow managed to talk with his mouth still sealed. Regardless, you smiled and moved your hand from your arm, rubbing both of them over your face and groaning again. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had apparently decided to let you stew for a while or maybe they were thinking you would calm down if they left you alone for an hour, but when they returned, they returned with three men who dragged you from the cell. You smiled at the one who had come to get you first, blood dried from dripping down his nose. His jaw was set and his eyes grew dark when you looked at him, making you laugh slightly. He held you the tightest, pulling on you uncomfortably as they pulled you down the hall. You struggled periodically when they pulled unnecessarily hard and managed to knock one or two of them in the jaw a few times. With this process, along with a string of curses from both you and your captors, it took several minutes before you finally reached the throne room doors and were shoved inside. Your snarky demeanor immediately disappeared as you entered, replaced with an acute sense of fear and worry at the sight before you. Asmodeus had looked up from where he stood before the throne, expressionless at you but your eyes fell on the form before him. Lucifer was hunched over and bleeding, his face partially unrecognizable and his shirt ripped to reveal bruises and cuts as well—Holy shit. From his back protruded two large, white wings. They consisted of thickly walled feathers that were charged and torn in places, especially along the edges but the feathers near his spine were smaller and new, letting off a glossy glow. Two other pairs of wings paralleled these but they seemed ghost-like, slightly visible but if you reached out to touch them, you were sure your hand would pass through as if they were made only of air. Your eyes trailed the edge of one of his wings when the glint of metal caught your gaze. Just above the feathers, was a blood-slick angel blade, gripped tightly in Asmodeus’ hand. The sight jerked you forward but just as you reached Lucifer, eyes glowing with rage and pain, a crippling pain emanated from your gut, forcing you to your knees. The sharpness of the pain subsided as you hit the ground, leaving behind a dull ache as you looked up at Asmodeus. 

“What have you done to him,” you bit out as his features remained unreadable, seemingly void of emotion. Your hand slowly extended forward, lightly resting on an uninjured part of his arm. 

“I have known the perils of Lucifer’s disappointment,” he answered you, running his unoccupied hand across the scars on his face, “Now, he shall know the perils of mine.” You forced yourself off of your feet with his words, prepared to lunge yourself forward despite the unfaltering pang in your stomach, but you froze as he moved the blade ever so slightly, angled directly at the area where Lucifer’s wings connected to his back. Lucifer was breathing heavily and his body tensed as the cold metal of the blade pressed against his body. A regular angle blade couldn’t kill him even without most of his grace, that you were pretty sure of, but it seemed so far that it could do a hell of a lot of damage and an Angel’s wings were almost sacred. The pain alone would probably be enough to knock him out and—you felt as if every molecule of your body was screaming, pulling you from any coherent thoughts. Asmodeus held eye contact with you for a second, a small smile spreading on his face, before making a clean swipe against the flesh. A gargled noise came from your mouth as Lucifer let out a near blood-curdling scream. The sound was partially drowned out by the doors to the throne room being thrown open. You didn’t look at first to see who had come through, your eyes fixed on Lucifer. With a few jagged movements, you managed to rip the fabric from the bottom of your shirt and wrap it secure it tightly, not without a few groans from Lucifer, around his wound. 

“(Y/N),” you heard your name from somewhere far away like it was yelled at your through a tunnel, “(Y/N),” it was clearer this time and you managed to make out Dean’s voice, finally turning your eyes to the door. Dean was standing over you, concern knitted in his brow with Sam just behind him, blade raised and staring at Asmodeus who had moved away from you a few feet. You blinked hard, trying desperately to regain your composure, and finally stood back up, using Dean’s arm briefly for support. 

“Go,” you managed, a bit weaker than you wanted, “Go, Gabriel is still in the cell, I’ve got him,” You straightened your posture and nodded to Asmodeus who was simply watching the three of you, “Sam,” you added in a whisper, “Grab my duffle bag over there,” you had noticed the bag had been left in the corner of the room and he walked over to it, slinging it over his shoulder and dropping it at your feet. 

“Gabriel?” Dean inquired, his features twisting with surprise.

“Yes, I’ll explain later but please get him, hurry up.”

“Are you sure—”

“I’ve got him,” you cut Sam off, bending over to unzip the duffle bag. The Winchester nodded and retreated out the door with Asmodeus and the few surrounding demons watching them carefully. Not one of them moved and you guessed they were waiting on an order from Asmodeus but it never came. He, instead, turned his attention back to you. “What? You didn’t think I came here unprepared did you?” you managed to regain your original snarkiness, pulling a demon bomb from your bag. He opened his mouth to respond but you threw it with everything you had and it crashed on the ground beside him, sending a blue cloud of what looked almost like electricity. Smoke mingled with the blue as the demon’s surrounding you went up in dark clouds. As it cleared you strode over to Asmodeus who was flat on his back, struggling to breathe. The angel blade made a scraping sound as you picked it up from where it had fallen on the floor. You kneeled, one knee on each side of him, and smirked down at him. Your nostrils flared and for a moment only pure rage filled you but it was long enough because, with one swift movement, you plunged the blade into his chest. With a sigh of relief, your shoulders relaxed and you pushed yourself off of him, dropping the blade and kneeling once more beside Lucifer who was passed out on the stone floor. You softly moved the hair from his forehead and sighed again, shaking slightly as your adrenaline began to fade. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
“Look, I can’t help you if you don’t let me,” you petitioned Lucifer who stood in your room in front you, crossing his arms. 

“Fine,” he conceded, shedding his shirt—that was essentially rags at this point—and climbing onto your bed where you sat. His back faced you and with a small flash of light, the white expanse of feathers returned. The cloth of your shirt was still bound to his wing, and many of his feathers were now pink from the trickling down of blood, dissipating into the white. 

“Alright,” you sighed, reaching for the damp rag on the side table, “This will probably sting but I need to get the blood off,” With that you softly dabbed the rag into the feathers, starting with the lightest pink before moving closer to the wound. Lucifer alternated between sucking in his breath and letting out small groans as you cleaned the feathers, “This is why I didn’t want you coming,” you stopped cleaning for a moment, letting your hands drop to your lap. 

“If I wouldn’t have shown up, you and my brother wouldn’t have made it down the hallway,” his voice was quiet but there was something restrained in his tone, not cold or angry, but something teetering on the edge of both. 

“If you wouldn’t have shown up this wouldn’t have happened to you,” you returned the rag to his wings and he inhaled sharply. 

“I would have thought I’d get a thank you for saving your life,” You finished cleaning the last feather and tossed the rag aside, sliding off the bed and bending down in front of him, so you were at eye-level. 

“Thank you,” you kissed his forehead and smiled at him.

“And thank you,” he returned, pulling you down into a light kiss. You savored the chilled feeling of his lips for a second before pulling away.

“I’m going to go sit with Gabriel for a bit,” A sad expression passed over Lucifer’s face for the briefest of moments but you saw it nonetheless before he nodded, releasing your hand he had grabbed slowly, so that the tips of his fingers just touched yours with his arm extended, falling against his knee as you finally let go and walked out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You settled into the chair you had dragged into one of the spare rooms in the Bunker, with a new book to read, wrapping yourself in a fuzzy blue blanket as your eyes found Gabriel, sleeping on the room’s bed. His stitches across his mouth had been taken out and his wounds tended to, now he just needed to rest. There was something about having him back so suddenly that made you not want to be farther apart from him than you had to. You really wanted to hear his voice again, to see him smile again, after all of these years of thinking he was dead and gone. Your eyes had returned to your lap but only seconds after the thoughts crossed your mind you heard him.

“Hiya cupcake,” his voice was horse and grovly but it was undeniably him and your head snapped up to see him sitting up slightly in the bed, a soft smile across his lips.   
“Hey,” you returned, shuffling over to the side of the bed, “How ya feeling.”

“Never better,” He answered but the groan he let out as he laid his head back on the pillow betrayed him.

“Sure,” you scoffed, “maybe you should get some rest.” 

“I need to rest up so I get kick your ass for rushing in their guns blazing.” you glared at him and Gabriel raised his eyebrows at you. 

“Oh really, If I recall I saved your ass,” you snarked back, still smiling at him. 

“And who saved yours?” He questioned. God, he was a lot like his brother in many ways. You hadn’t noticed it until now and it made you laugh a little. 

“Group effort,” you decided, tapping him lightly on the head with your book, making him scrunch his nose. You headed toward the door, turning back toward him just before you reached it, “Get some sleep, Gabe. It’s really good to have you back,” you added warmly. 

“As you wish cupcake,” is what you heard as you closed the door behind you, smiling to yourself.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kind of shitty, I'm sorry

“Morning (Y/N),” Gabriel chimed as you walked into the bunker’s kitchen, eyes still slightly heavy from sleep. You rubbed your face and smiled at him.

“Morning Gabe,” He was reclining in a chair, feet propped up on the table with a lollipop in his mouth. You poured a cup of black coffee from the pot—good thing Sam was an early riser and always made a pot—and took a seat opposite Gabriel, watching the stick of the lollipop move as he rolled his tongue over the candy in his mouth. Even with the early morning tiredness still enveloping you, it made you smile. It had always seemed odd to you that he could almost always be found with some sort of candy or sweets. You knew he was an angel, which meant the taste was lost on him, becoming colored molecules instead of the sweat chocolatey or fruity treat. You liked to think he saw someone one day, perhaps a kid, many years ago, eating candy without a care in the world. It was probably ludicrous, you knew that, but maybe he saw him and it struck his fancy. Maybe it makes him feel closer to humans. Unlike the other archangels (so you’ve heard), he had always had a soft spot for people. 

“You alright there,” Gabriel’s voice pulled you from your thoughts, and you turned your eyes from the wall you hadn’t realized you were staring at. He was quirking an eyebrow at you, lollipop pushed to the side of his mouth so he could speak. 

“Fine, just a little out of it,” You answered, taking a large gulp of your coffee. His expression turned from inquiring to suspicious for a brief moment before turning his attention to the doorway. You followed his gaze, eyes landing on the tall blond angel who was peering into the room. His presence slightly surprised you. Over the last few days, you had hardly seen him. You weren’t sure if he was avoiding you or Gabriel. Maybe it was both of you. You were over the moon that Gabriel was back and admittedly, most of your attention was on him, but you missed Lucifer being around. You missed him sitting with you in the Library and the nights you spent together, even if there hadn’t been too many of those. You glanced back to Gabriel, who had stiffened slightly. It was rare to see Gabriel like that, his snarky expression he wore most of the time had disappeared and this time it wasn’t replaced with the softer smile he often adorned around you. For a moment, a brief moment, he wasn’t your friend or the trickster, he was an archangel and a brother. But as soon as he came, he was gone, vanishing past the doorway. You halfway stood up from your chair, bending over to take an awkward sip of your coffee leaving it on the table in favor of quickly walking from the kitchen and into the hallway. 

“Luce,” you called just as he turned a corner. Speeding up so that you found him again as he walked briskly down the other hallway, “Lucifer,” you called again and there was no way he hadn’t heard you but he continued walking until he ducked into his room, shutting the door behind him. The door shut just inches from your nose and your brow creased as you exhaled frustratedly, “Hey,” you knocked on the door only for it to be opened quickly, though still held only slightly open with Lucifer looking down at you, “Can I come in.” He still didn’t say anything but he moved so that you could make your way into the room. 

“Tired of my brother,” he finally asked, causing your brow to knit once more, as you glared up at him curiously. 

“Look,” you tried to sound caring but your annoyance showed through your tone ever so slightly, “I don’t know what’s going on with you but your business is your business. I just came to redress your wings,” you half lied. You wanted to know why he was acting this way and it wasn’t his wings that made you run after him down the halls but you had been meaning to check on his wounds for a few days now. 

“No,” he responded sharply before forcible softening his voice, “I’m fine.”

“Luci-”

“I’m an Archangel. I don’t need the help of a puny human,” he cut you off, words teeming with bitterness.

“Hey,” you slightly yelled back, “I don’t know why you’ve suddenly morphed into an emo teenager but don’t give me that week human shit. I just want to make sure you’re alright.” He looked you over, his stare remaining cold, colder than you had ever seen it. You kept your gaze on him, the tenseness starting to make your shoulders ache slightly. 

“Why don’t you rejoin my brother, he has always had a certain taste for humans,” He wasn’t even looking at you now and you could feel the pain and anger beginning to boil. 

“Is that what this is about? You don’t even speak to him but you’re angry at me for spending time with him.” You scoffed, rubbing your hand across the back of your neck, “So what you’re going back to the ‘I’m the devil’ fear me shit? I think we’re past that by now,” He didn’t say anything, looking away from you with his hands clasped, regally behind him, “You scare the hell out of me Luce, but not for the reasons you seem to think. I’ve obviously met archangels before. I love Gabriel, I do, He’s my best friend but I never expected to meet you when I came here. And you, you make me reckless. I wanted to kill Asmodeus for what he had done to Gabriel but when he held that knife to your wings, I swear I could feel the rage in my veins. When I killed him it wasn’t my job. It wasn’t clinical and that terrifies me but I’d like to be with you. I’d like to keep,” you took a breath in, realizing you were lightheaded and talking fast, “ whatever this is.” He surveyed you, arms falling by his side. Lucifer gave a quick nod and removed his shirt. You walked over to the bed cautiously, an uneasy feeling settling into your stomach as he sat before you. WIth a dull expansion of light his wings appeared and spread out before you. 

“You wanted to see my wings,” he expressed quietly, with a bitter inflection. You ran your eyes over them, content for the briefest moment before you eyes came to the area where Asmodeus had sliced into them. A dark vein-like pattern eliminated from the wound, the feathers immediately around it becoming a blackish purple and fading to a muddled gray. Your heart sunk and you felt your mouth go slightly dry.

“What is this,” you asked, each word slow and quiet as your fingers hovered over the wound.

“An infection, normally nothing but a scratch but an angel blade does more damage than you may think when you don’t have the grace to heal it.” He was angry, you could hear it in his voice. 

“Can I help? Does it need to be cleaned,” You barely got the question out when he interjected. 

“No, I need grace to heal it because it was an angel blade that cut them. I would have to take another’s grace and even then it probably wouldn’t be enough.” His posture and his tone both seemed to soften slightly at the concern evident in your voice. 

“So what, you’re just going to sit in this room and,” you pushed yourself off the bed, a frantic anger consuming you, “let you wings rot, die, what?” you gesture wildly with your hands as you placed in front of him. 

“Weak or not, I am still an archangel. The infection won’t kill me but in this state I could lose my wings,” you could have sworn you heard his voice crack slightly, “indefinitely.” You swallowed, eyes, falling to his shoulder as you thought, or rather, didn’t think as your brain had decided to imitate a tv on the wrong channel. You pressed your forehead against his slowly and he leaned into your touch. Both of you stayed there, eyes closed, and after a few seconds you felt his hand slide to the back of your neck. 

“Does it hurt?” you whispered, the chill of his skin seeping into yours. He hummed a yes and you closed your eyes tighter for a second, “Tell you what, I can dress it now. I have an enchanted salve that might help it a bit and then I’ll find away to heal it.” You pulled away now, his hand sliding from your neck and resting in your hand. He opened his mouth in protest but you continued, “Cause there is no way I’m letting you lose your wings,” You shook your head, “No way.”


	8. Chapter 8

Sleep finally began to lift, giving way to a half-awake drowsiness. A headache immediately set in, making it feel like you were waking from an intense night out. You moved your fingers, becoming acutely aware of the lack of your bed sheets beneath you as your fingertips tapped against the cold, hard metallic surface. ‘What the fu-’ you tried to push yourself up off of your stomach, only for the previously unnoticed leather restraints, to tighten around your arms, legs, and midsection, tugging uncomfortably at exposed skin. You wiggled again, the leather surely leaving imprints on your unclothed back. As the coma-like haze dissipated, panic set in, twisting your stomach and making the chilled air on your back painfully obvious to you. Your breathing became heavy, clouding the surface beneath you with condensation and wetting your cheek slightly as your strained your head to the side in an effort to see anything about your surroundings. The room, if that was the correct term, that you found yourself in was impossibly white so that everywhere you looked seemed to continue forever in an almost blinding, clinical brightness. Before your brain could form another coherent thought, a concentrated frigid line was drawn up your spine by some figure or force unseen, making your body tense immediately. It was like your senses snapped into place like a rubber band too aggressively pulled back and released without warning. ‘A knife, A knife,’ repeated in your head as you honed in on the object pressed, ever so lightly, against your skin. Suddenly a blinding pain cut through your flesh, a fiery, sharp, and familiar pain. It continued with the curve of the knife as whoever it was who loomed over you, traced a feathered pattern onto your back. 

“(y/n), (y/n), (y/n),” The voice repeated your name tauntingly and you recognized the voice as Asmodeus’. This couldn’t be happening. You weren’t in the dungeon anymore. You wer—Another searing pain ripped through you as the blade carved just beneath your shoulder blade, moving slowly down to your lower back. This wasn’t how it happened. Asmodeus hadn’t been the one to—A scream roared out of you, making you collapse your head, with heavy breaths, onto the metal slab. 

“(y/n),” Gabriel’s voice growled your name as another tortuous feather was carved, “(y/n),” Dean’s voice, another feather, “(y/n),” Sam and—Fuck—a long curve of the wing is carved down your back, near your spine. Suddenly the sharp pain has gone, leaving the ache of the wounds behind as the chill of the knife is lifted. But, you still hear your name. It’s repeating over and over in Lucifer’s voice. His tone changes each time he says your name, whispering some sensually, whilst nearly screaming others in a hateful rage. A defining scream filled your ears as they all seem to shout together and you squeezed your eye tight, desperately trying to pull your arms from the restraints to cover your ears. Suddenly, silence, and you opened your eyes to find you were face up on the slab now, still somehow restrained. Your eyes widened as the singular figure looming above you came into focus. Your own face looked down at you with a twisted smile as they fiddled with the knife in their hand. 

“You’ve always loved wings, chasing butterflies as a child. No wonder your best friend is an angel and your lover, such a beautiful set of wings,” your own voice spoke to you, tauntingly, “You should be grateful they were given to you,” your laugh sent shivers down your spine as it echoed in the room, “But,” the knife was brought close to your neck as she gestured, “Those aren’t the wings you’re fond of now are they? You can’t save him. You can’t—” A banging sounded, causing her, you, to snap their head to the side in search of where the noise was coming from. The banging continued and the white of the room faded to black as it became louder. 

You sat up straight in your bed, gripping onto the sheets and looking around frantically. Ok, sheets, mattress, your guns on the wall; this was your room. The banging made you jump as your eyes snapped up to the door. 

“(y/n),” you heard Gabriel’s voice, behind the door.

“Ya, um sorry, come in,” you managed to get out, rubbing your face as your heart started to slow in your chest. He opened the door slowly, looking down at you with a raised eyebrow. You shifted in the bed, scooting closer to the headboard so that he could sit. Your knee bumped against the open laptop next to you, the screen black. You had been researching angel’s grace and trying to find anyone in the area that could help but to no avail. There had been a few who claimed to be faith healers in the area but none seemed legitimate enough to look into. Closing it, you righted yourself, just as Gabriel sat on the edge of the bed. 

“I heard that you, Dean, and Samsquatch, have a movie night tonight,” Gabriel started cheerfully, that grin of his spreading on his face.

“Ya, and?” you laughed, pulling your legs in so that you were sitting Indian style. 

“And… they told me it was your turn to pick,” you glared at him.

“And what? You want my turn,” he nodded in response, pointing a finger at you. You sighed, laughing a little as you thought it over, “What’s in it for me,” you questioned, glaring at him, though you still smiled.

“My powers are limitless,” he joked in a deeper, more theatrical voice than his usual one and you punched him in the arm.

“I don’t know, I had to sit through Dean’s cowboy movie and you didn’t so it’s hardly fair,” He gave you the best puppy dog eyes he could manage but you shook your head.

“If bribery won’t work, I can resort to back mail,” He threatened and your eyes widened. The thing about knowing someone or a long time is that they tend to accumulate too much embarrassing knowledge about you.

“Fine,” you conceded, throwing your hands up in fake surrender and his grin grew wider, making you smile too. He shifted as if he was going to leave now that he had gotten what he wanted but you moved so that his attention returned to you, waiting for what you were going to say, “How are you by the way,” your tone took on a more serious nature. His grin faltered with your words, his features becoming more hallow. 

“Better,” he nearly whispered, looking down at the bed. You scooted closer, bringing your fingers lightly to his lips and ghosting over the invisible lines of the sutures. His breathing became shallow as he watched you. 

“I mean it, Gabe,” you finally withdrew your hand and looked him intently, questioning. 

“I’m ok,” he answered but you saw it in his eyes, the pain, the fear almost. You knew that look too well, after all, you had worn it many many times before. It was odd though, seeing it on him and it made your heartache. He had grabbed your hand as he spoke and you gave it a slight squeeze. 

“I’m ok too,” He nodded as you gave him a small smile. He continued to nod as he stood up from the bed, letting go of your hand, “Hey,” you called out rather loudly, smiling wide, “You better choose a good movie,” He wiggled his eyebrows at you and you rolled your eyes, before he exited, closing the door behind him. You sighed as the door shut, falling back against the headboard and accidentally smacking your arm on the laptop. Your mind returned to your dream, jumping between the image of your own face looming over you and mentally tracing the wings across your back, imaging them bleeding and raw as they once were. Picking up the laptop, you tossed it on the floor, hoping after it hit the ground a little too hard that it didn’t break, before rolling over in your sheets with a groan. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Lucifer,” you called out as you knocked on his door. It opened on its own—apparently, he had regained enough grace for petty tricks—and you found him sitting on the edge of his bed. He was beginning to look ill, the bags under his eyes darkening and you knew without checking that his wings were worse. Despite this, you smiled. An idea had occurred to you after Gabriel left your room and honestly it was the first hope you had in a while. 

“What has you so happy,” Lucifer smiled too, rising from the bed and slipping his arms around you, “I hope it wasn’t one of my brother’s idiotic jokes,” You laughed at that and he bent slightly to press a kiss to your lips. He hummed into the kiss and you clasped your hands behind his neck, running your tongue along his lower lip. 

“I had an idea,” you pulled away from his lips but kept your hands behind his neck, looking up at him. He smiled still, waiting for you to continue. It was a nice smile, a rare soft smile that contrasted highly to his usual devilish smirk, “I think I know a way to cure you,” His smile faltered slightly and he looked at you with an almost sad curiosity as he resumed his seat on the edge of the bed, “I know you said that if you took an angel’s grace it probably wouldn’t be enough but could an angel heal you?”

“The grace still wouldn’t be enough.” He answered with that dissociative chill in his voice.

“What about an Archangel,” his head snapped up with your words and he glared at you dangerously.

“No,” Lucifer rose to his feet and looked at you sternly. 

“If it’s possible then it’s an easy solution he—”

“I know what you’re implying and no,” Lucifer almost seemed angry at the notion. 

“Is it possible,” He refused to answer you, clasping his hands behind his back and beginning to pace. 

“I can ask him, Luce, It’s not like he’ll say no,” Lucifer turned on his heels so that he was facing you. 

“He doesn’t need to know.”

“Does that mean that he could heal you?” Lucifer nodded and coughed, rubbing the back of his neck, “Then why not ask him? You rather have your wings rot off.” You were beginning to get frustrated with him, “I know what happened, Luce. I know why you haven’t spoken to him and I understand, but he’s ok. Lucifer,” you placed your hands on his arms from behind him, “Gabriel is alive.” Lucifer dropped his head and started shaking it before pulling out of your arms. 

“No, No,” He whispered at first, opting to yell the second word, “Don’t tell him a damn thing.” 

“Are you seriously going to let your stubbornness make you lose your wings and from the looks of it,” you were yelling now too and gestured to his hollowed appearance, “let it kill you.”

“I thought it killed him,” Lucifer screamed, truly yelled, and the light bulbs in the room exploded, sending a light sprinkle of sparks down on the two of you before silence, like rain, fell too.


	9. Chapter 9

You had been so caught up in your argument with Lucifer that you hadn’t noticed the pair of whiskey eyes watching you from the opened doorway. Lucifer hadn’t noticed either until, with his last few words, both of you fell silent. His eyes widened and you followed his gaze to the opened door behind you, turning completely around so that you now had your back to Lucifer. Gabriel’s expression was surprisingly neutral. His usual wide grin or occasional more serious glare were both absent, replaced with a cautious glint in his eyes and his lips pulled into a thin line. 

“Gabe,” his name came out as more of a hoarse whisper. You hadn’t intended to get this emotional but your throat tightened as tears threatened to spill from your eyes for a brief moment. He watched you with his unchanging expression before turning his gaze to Lucifer, who had tensed completely, his hands stiff beside him instead of being drawn behind his back. 

“I’ve always got a few extra tricks up my sleeve,” Gabriel quipped, breaking the silence between him and Lucifer. An uneasy feeling settled in your stomach. It was a strange situation, given that Lucifer, the blonde haired angel who refused to leave you alone for weeks in the library was now silent, stiff, and because you heard Gabriel’s usual sarcasm in such a chilled tone. Your uneasiness only grew when Lucifer seemed to be periodically avoiding his eye contact. 

“Are you gonna fucking tell him or just stand there?” You questioned Lucifer. Your frustration had overtaken you slightly, making your words sound harsh. You shouldn’t have been angry, or at least, not this angry. It was difficult for him to be in the same room with Gabriel but you were scared and that had always translated into anger for you. It often came in handy for your job but for interpersonal things it was a pain in the ass. 

“Tell me what?” Gabriel cocked his head to the side and looked from you to Lucifer with crossed arms. He stared at Lucifer for a while, both of them in silence, like he was studying him, “You’re hurt,” he finally decided, causing Lucifer to exhale loudly through his nose. 

“I’m fine,” Lucifer lied, his voice full of contempt as he finally looked at Gabriel. 

“I’ve known you for a long time, big bro. I haven’t suddenly become numb to sensing your grace and right now it doesn’t exactly seem top notch,” Gabriel’s tone was still slightly cold but there was a look in his eyes that put you slightly at ease. 

“Then what does it matter to you, come to mock your murder,” Lucifer looked directly at Gabe and for a moment you could have sworn his eyes flashed red but it was offset by the clear pain expressed on his face.

“Murder?” Gabe forced out a laugh and looked down at his body, briefly placing his hands on his chest as if he was checking to make sure he existed, “I think for it to be considered a murder, someone has to have died,” Lucifer seemed to have had enough and attempted to push past the two of you to the door but Gabriel’s voice stopped him, his back still to you, “I was going to kill you.” Lucifer slowly turned on his heels, to face Gabriel. 

“What was that?” Lucifer questioned. You weren’t sure how long you could stand this. The cold exterior both of them wore, the chill in their voices, their gaze like they might hug or kill the other at any second, it was too much, too heartbreaking. 

“I was ready to shiv your ass too,” Gabriel restated, “Hell, I was ready to kill anyone at that point, just to make it all stop, all of the fighting, brother on brother.” You felt your throat tighten as you watched them. 

“So, you would help him, if he needed it,” You finally interjected, hoarsely. Lucifer kept his eyes on Gabriel, who had turned his head ever so slightly so that he was looking at you and nodded. 

“Asmodeus cut into my wings, using an angel blade. They are in the advanced stages of infection,” Lucifer voice was briefly clinical again, before, with a glance to you,” he turned and walked out of the room, leaving you and Gabriel alone. You looked up at Gabriel, rubbing the back of your shoulder, as the tension had caused it to ache. His head was turned to you, his expression sad and worrying. 

“He knows I can’t help him,” Gabriel explained, his voice sounding strained rather than cold as it had previously.

“What do you mean, Gabe,” you swallowed, taking a few steps closer to him and laying a hand on his arm. He didn’t speak for a moment, standing there silently instead, studying your worried expression. 

“Well, I know that I look like I’m back to my handsome self,” He quipped, smiling and gesturing to his face. You smiled slightly, waiting for him to continue, “But I’m not strong enough to heal like that after what Asmodeus…,” He trailed off and you squeezed his arm, letting him know he didn’t need to continue with that train of thought, “A bruised shoulder, a knife wound, sure, but an archangel’s wings are a different story,” you nodded and wiped the tear that had managed to escape down your cheek, hoping he hadn’t noticed it but you knew he had. Your eyes found the floor for a moment as you breathed in deeply, trying to calm yourself down from the event of the last few minutes. Finally, you looked back to Gabe and slowly pulled him into a hug. He leaned into the hug, wrapping his arms tightly around you as you buried your face in his neck.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Oh shit sorry,” You collided with Dean as you both passed the war room table, nearly knocking the beer from his hand. 

“Head up in the clouds there, (y/n)?” He asked, looking down at you amusedly. 

“Something like that,” you answered, drawing your lips into a thin line before coughing as if to clear your throat to say something else but never did. 

“Alright,” He said, taking a seat at the table and lightly banging both hands on its surface, “talk to me.” You listened, taking the seat beside him and rubbing a hand over your face. You groaned before beginning.

“Ok, this may seem like an obvious question but bear with me. You would risk your life for Cas wouldn’t you?” Dean’s face contorted curiously as the words left your lips. 

“Cas is family, you know that,” He answered in the same tone you expected.

“I know, but what about when you first met him. Would you have risked your life for him then?” Dean thought for a moment, briefly rubbing the back of his neck as he leaned back in the chair, taking a sip of his beer. 

“No,” He finally decided.

“No?”

“I wouldn’t have, hell, when we first met I stabbed him.” You laughed slightly, “But in all of the things we’ve done, All of the mistakes I’ve made in this life, in this job, that would have been my worst.” 

“Ya,” you agreed, reaching out to steal the bottle beside Dean’s arm and taking a swig before returning it to its place.

“This have something to do with the feathered dicks you’ve been yelling at down the hall?” You stood up, keeping your hands on the back of the chair you had sat in, tapping your fingers on its surface, “Ya, but you,” you sighed, “you don’t really wanna know.” With that, you gave him a small smile and made your way out of the room, in search of Gabe.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You found him in your room, reclined on the bed reading one of the books you had stacked on the floor beside one of the bedposts. He had been spending a lot of time on there since he had returned from Hell. Granted, you had set him up in a room of his own down the hall but he seemed to favor yours, even when you weren’t in it. You guessed it had something to do with the isolation of it all and you really didn’t mind his company at all. 

“Hey Gabe,” you shut the door behind you but remained with your back against it as he looked up at you, over the top of the book. When he saw it was you he closed the book and laid it beside him, “Look, um,” You tried to find the best way to explain what was swirling in your head and he sat up, waiting for you to do so, “I had an idea.” 

“Should I be listening or running,” He laughed but your expression remained somber.

“I’m serious Gabe,” He raised an eyebrow at you, before moving so that you could sit beside him on your bed. You accepted the non-verbal offer, taking your seat beside him, “I need you to heel him.”

“(y/n), I-” He began in protest but you cut him off.

“Use me,” With that his brow furrowed in confusion. 

“Use you?” 

“Yes, I know you can’t heal him on your own and I don’t want you to do anything that will hurt yourself but if you touch my soul, if you use me, you could help him.” Gabriel straightened immediately, something in his eyes growing firey. 

“That could kill you,” He protested, “There is n-”

“I trust you, Gabe,” He sighed as his curious expression returned.

“You’re willing to do that for my brother?”

“Yes, I suppose I am.” You didn’t want to look him in the eye. You weren’t sure why but you found your gaze occupied instead by the sheets beneath you. 

“You do realize the risk, (y/n),” He questioned again, this time his tone much quieter. 

“But what other choice do I have? If I do nothing he’ll lose his wings and I know he says it won’t kill him but by the looks of it,” You stopped, clearing your throat, “I don’t really believe him.” 

“Seeing you fall in love is something I never really expected,” You stared at Gabriel as he spoke, not really being able to answer. Just as you opened your mouth to respond, a scream rang out down the hall, causing the two of you to leap out of the bed. You immediately pulled the gun from your waistband, holding it at ready as you ran down the hallway, Gabriel just behind you. Sam and Dean seemed to have had the same idea as you all converged on at Lucifer’s open doorway. With a glance at them, you made your way in first, only for your heart to drop. Lucifer had collapsed on the floor in front of you. He laid on his side, blood trickling from his head onto the floorboards.


	10. Chapter 10

Out of all of your bad days, this had to be on the top ten list. You were speechless for a moment, as your eyes traced over Lucifer’s body, his blonde hair matted slightly from the blood caused by the impact of his face hitting the floor. He was breathing, that was good, but his scream still echoed in your ears. It must have taken incredible pain to get him to make that sound and if anything told you about what condition his wings were in without seeing them, that was it. The very thought made you cringe. With a deep breath, you peeled your eyes away from him and turned around to face the three men behind you. 

“Gabe,” your voice broke as you said his name, walking slowly around Lucifer’s body, still lying on the floor of his room, “Gabe, you have to do it.” Tears began to well up in your eyes.

“(y/n),” He began in protest but you shook your head.

“I know-” you voice cracked, “I know it’s dangerous but I don’t know what else to do,” you rubbed your face and briefly glanced at Gabriel and then to Sam and Dean who were looking over the whole scene just as tensely from the doorway. 

“Gabriel, what is she talking about?” Sam’s smooth voice questioned, finally tucking his gun away into his waistband. 

“He needs to touch my soul, so he can heal Lucifer,” You answered.

“Oh hell no,” came the gravelly voice from behind Sam. You briefly glared at Dean but returned your attention quickly to Lucifer’s body at your feet.

“Dean’s right (y/n), It’s too dangerous,” Sam joined in the protest and you sighed, bringing your eyes back up to Gabriel. 

“I have to,” you silently pled with all of them, searching their expressions for some hope, “And if I die, I swear I’ll haunt all of your asses,” you tried to make the situation feel lighter, tried to joke, and maybe even smile, but the words came out hoarse as tears streaked down your cheeks. You waited, not bothering to wipe away the tears, as you looked at Gabe who, to your dismay, began to shake his head. 

“I can’t,” He finally resolved, looking at you with a sorrowful expression, before his gaze fell to his brother on the ground. 

“I told you I know the risks but I-”

“I can’t,” He started again, much harsher and firmer this time. That’s when you felt it, the all familiar pain and rage burning in your chest. 

“Do you not see him, Gabriel,” you were yelling now, gesturing to Lucifer on the ground. A small voice in your head told you to stop, told you it wasn’t any use, that you could find another way but you felt your anger boiling over and you continued like you were watching yourself from behind a glass wall, “Did you not hear him scream? This isn’t a cold. I can’t rummage through the cabinets and find some medicine to make it go away.” 

“I’m not strong enough (y/n)!” Gabriel was yelling now too and it surprised you for a second, “Could I use your soul to heal him, sure, but controlling the pure power of a soul? That takes a lot of strength. I wouldn’t be able to stop. It would be like setting off a nuclear explosion with you at the center,” He held a finger out, pointed at you as tears continued to fall from your eyes and—to your surprise—from his. You shook your head again, wiping the tears from your face and looked past him to Dean. 

“Help me get him in the bed, will ya,” you strained your voice as it took on a colder, more clinical tone and Dean stumbled out something that you took as a begrudged agreement as he stepped forward and helped you lift the archangel, who was much heavier than he seemed, onto the mattress. After he seemed relatively comfortable, you pushed past the boys and walked a few feet down the hallway. Gabriel was right on your heels and you stopped to face him when you were just out of earshot of the Winchesters. 

“How can you not be willing to try,” you asked him quietly, anger still heavy in your voice as you glared at him. You leaned against the wall with your arms crossed, awaiting his answer. Gabriel huffed in frustration. 

“There is not trying (y/n). There is only you dying, which is not going to happen.”

“So what? You’re fine with his wings just rotting off? I swear you two are just as stubborn as each other.” Gabriel rolled his eyes at your accusation. 

“No, if there’s a way to help my brother that doesn’t include you being blown seven ways to Sunday, then sign me up, but I’m not risking you kiddo,” He was theatrical in the way he spoke, gesturing wildly. 

“Risk is basically the central part of my life Gabe, I’m a hunter-”

“This is different.” He looked down at the floor and you furrowed raised an eyebrow at him.

“How?” 

“It’s different because I’d be the one putting you at risk.”

“Oh, such a softy,” You bit out at him.

“I’m serious,” his tone conveyed his words, causing you to look intently at him, “He’s my brother and despite everything I love him but I love you too much to kill you for him.” You didn’t know what to say so you simply stared at him. He was right, you knew that. It wasn’t fair to ask him to do that to you. He loved you, you knew that too but it was a different thing to hear him say it. You hadn’t intended on dying. It was a risk to you and most of the time, risks worked out in the end. The notion that you really could die had seemed lost to you. The longer you looked at him the more your anger dissipated, guilt taking its place. At the same time, a visible change was taking place in Gabriel. The longer you were silent, the nervier he got and it was almost as if you could see the walls he built up for most people, reforming around him. 

“I’m sorry, alright, I just-” your tone was soft now but every ounce of bitterness seemed to have seeped into his. 

“No, should have known you would have got your feathers in a ruffle,” well that was a cruel choice of words. It broke your heart slightly, watching the man before you, not the archangel you knew, not the friend, but the distant trickster you had heard about, “You’re stupid and reckless, even have the uniform,” Gabriel pulled slightly on the flannel you had on and gave you a curt smile before disappearing down the hallway. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At least you had about 45 minutes to yourself before Sam found you, reclining against the large telescope in the bunker, halfway through your third beer. You would have opted for the harder stuff but it had been a while since anyone had went on a proper supply run. Sam sighed as he sat down next to you, picking up one of the empty bottles and setting it back down. 

“How ya holding up?” He was trying to be nice and he really did sound concerned but you were in no mood for a heart-to-heart. 

“Peaches Sammy,” you stated, taking another swig of your beer. He let out a sort of laugh.

“Ya ok, listen, when you and Gabriel were um,” screaming? Crying? “Talking earlier, you said you couldn’t rummage through the cabinets for some medicine but what if you could?” Your brow furrowed in confusion and you turned your head toward him inquiring. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, the Men of Letters spent decades collecting magical items. What if there was something in the archives that could help.” Your eyes widened and a surge of hope fluttered through you. Why hadn’t you thought of this before? You jumped to your feet, knocking over an empty bottle. Bending down, you kissed him on his forehead, and he smiled, pulling himself up on his feet.

“You’re brilliant,” you, stumbled slightly out of the room and stopped beside the table.

“Come on,” Sam gestured for you to follow him down the hall, “I’ll help you look.”


	11. Chapter 11

“Any luck?” You heard Sam ask from behind another shelf behind you as you stretched up on your toes to place to grab a box from the top shelf. A cloud of dust followed it causing you to cough as you set the book down. The box must have been untouched for a long time based on the amount of dust that was now in your eyes and lungs. 

“Nope,” you coughed out, as you glared down at the files in the box, “You?” 

“No,” You already knew he hadn’t found anything but you couldn’t help the frustrated sigh that passed your lips. Your fingers ran along the spines of the books and boxes that lined the room at your eye level. It had only been about an hour but to be honest you had little hope of finding a cure when you entered the archives. You could hear the boxes being slid from the shelves and dropped to the ground where Sam was and you rubbed your eyes as the dust slowly began to dissipate in the room. 

“Dammit,” you said under your breath as you stumbled back slightly, hitting the shelf. You only managed to knock a few items to the ground but the impact sent another pillow of dust your way, “How are we supposed to find anything in this place? I get the feeling that whoever the Men of letters had down here was the only one who knew where anything was. He probably slept behind the desk,” You were rambling now, mostly under your breath as you walked down the back wall, examining each shelf to see if anything looked slightly promising. 

“Hey Sammy,” you stepped around the corner so that you see him as he was hunched over a few of the boxes. He looked up, brushing his hair from his face, “I just wanted to say thank you,” the words were clumsy but sincere. 

“Course,” he nodded, brushing it off but you felt compelled to continue as he returned his attention to the boxes.

“I mean it. I know this isn’t exactly your cup of tea especially,” you paused. You had heard what Lucifer had done to him. It was the only real quarrel you had with the angel. You knew that a lot of it was most likely the cage itself rather than Lucifer but it was a careful topic, that you knew and with two archangels in the bunker, you were already on thin ice, “especially given your past with Lucifer but I’m really grateful for the help.” He kept his head down for a moment but he his hands were frozen along the files. 

“I’m not doing it for him,” his voice held something cold in it like it somehow hurt him and you could feel the tension in the room, “You care about him, that’s obvious and since you’ve been here he’s been tolerable. He is Gabriel’s brother and he’s been through enough too. Maybe one less death could help us all out,” Sam was looking up at you now and you nodded, offering a grateful smile before he returned his attention to the files. You sighed lightly and stepped backward, briefly considering going back to search the shelves but opting instead to head for the door.

“I’ll be back in a bit. I’ve gotta go talk to someone,” you didn’t wait to hear his reply as you made your way through the winding hallways. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Gabe?” you peaked your head into your own room, finding the angel sitting on the edge of the bed, tense and staring at the floor. You hadn’t bothered to check his room first. His head snapped up when he heard you enter and you stepped in, closing the door behind you, “I come in peace,” you added lightly, holding your hands up in surrender. His eyes followed you as you sat next to him. 

“You and Samsquatch find anything,” He asked quietly, only looking at you from the sides of his eyes. 

“Umm no, not yet,” you turned your head to look at him. Had he always seemed this tired? He had dark bags under his eyes and the wounds around his lips were almost healed but not quite. The scars from the sutures were still visible around his mouth and you found your eyes lingering on them sadly. God, how could you have been this stupid? 

“I’m sorry,” The words left your mouth at just over a whisper.

“What?” He finally turned his head toward you, questioning.

“I’m sorry, Gabe, for everything. I was so happy to have you back and so terrified when we found him on the floor that I didn’t even consider what you were going through. I want Lucifer to get better. I really do but it wasn’t fair for me to put that on you. After what…” you trailed off as he placed a hand on your arm, turning both of your bodies to face the each other, “After what Asmodeus did to you.” You couldn’t help the sadness in your gaze as you looked at him.

“We all get scared sometimes sugar,” he winked at you, forcing a smile to pull at your lips. 

“Even celestial beings?” you joked. He let out a puff of air that almost sounded like a laugh and smiled.

“Even celestial beings.” Your hand came up to meet his cheek and slid till your fingers found the edges of his mouth, ghosting over the scars. 

“I’m so sorry,” Your hand fell away as he leaned forward, connecting his lips to yours. It was slow and unsure and you felt like your brain was short-circuiting. When you didn’t kiss him back he pulled away roughly and stood up from the bed. You just watched him, in shock. 

“I shouldn-” 

“(y/n),” his mumbled apology was cut off by Sam yelling your name from down the hall. 

“Sounds like I’m being summoned,” you tried to laugh but his tenseness made it futile. As you stood up from the bed, you let a hand briefly touch Gabriel’s arm before walking from the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your brain was still mostly static when you met Sam in the war room. He seemed enthusiastic which was a good sign and he gestured to an open file on the table as you entered the room. 

“So get this,” Sam pointed to a paper in the file as you came up beside him, looking following his finger, “The Men of letters developed a spell for healing, a sort of cure-all.”

“So the Men of Letters were into witchcraft now?” you asked with a hint of sarcasm, raising an eyebrow. Sam simply shrugged, “What do we need?”

“They don’t have the spell from what I can see but it seems it was more of a ‘one-time bulk’ kind of thing. It says here,” He flipped through a few pages of the file until he came to what he was looking for, “They stored some of it at one of their outposts and it doesn’t seem that far from here.” 

“Awesome,” You stepped back, smiling at Sam, “When do you think we could head out?”

“The sooner the better. I’ll go find Dean, let him know we’re leaving for a few hours.”

“Sounds good,” You watched sam briefly as he disappeared around the corner before making your way to your own room. Gabriel was nowhere to be seen and you were actually glad for it. Your brain was refusing to process everything and with everything going on you really didn’t need to be hung up on a kiss. You made your usual rounds, collecting your gun from beneath your pillow, your angel blade from the desk, holy water from the drawer, etc. You were only going to what was essentially an extension of the bunker but a little preparation never hurt. You walked out of your room backward, mentally checking off your list as you looked around the room. Sam was already back in the war room talking to Dean as you entered. 

“Hey,” they both turned their attention to you as you walked up to them before Dean continued speaking.

“All I’m saying is hurry your asses back,” Sam had already adorned his signature bitchface. You hadn’t heard the rest of the conversation but you were sure it had something to do with Dean’s feelings about being left in the bunker with two Archangels. 

“We’ll try our best,” You smiled at Dean who nodded begrudgingly. Before anyone else said another word a loud siren rang out and the lights turned off. The pitch black darkness only lasted a second before deep red lights began to flash along with large sigils of the same color on the walls. An immediate panic set in you and apparently the Winchesters were feeling the same. All three of you drew your guns and you set off down the hallway. The lights were almost disorienting and it reminded you way too much of the horror movies you used to watch as a kid. Gabriel was sprinting up the hallway when you turned the corner and he almost crashed into you. He stopped just in time, as you grabbed his shoulders to steady him. 

“What’s going on,” he questioned, concern and panic evident in his eyes. 

“No idea,” He followed you back to the war room as the door above you flung open, the clanging sound of the metal echoing over the siren. The next sound that followed was much softer but it seemed so much louder. Each footstep echoed like it was rooting itself through the bunker’s floor. A white-suited figure immersed and you felt Gabriel’s grip on your hand, which you hadn’t realized he was holding till now, tighten. Your eyes followed the noise and your stomach dropped as every bit of air in your lungs seemed to be vacuumed out. You had no time to process when you felt an invisible force hit you square in the chest. It felt like a car had suddenly collided with you, sending you, Gabriel, Sam, and Dean, flying backward and onto the floor. 

“Your petty little toys can’t kill me, missy,” there came that all too familiar draw, “I’ve come to claim what’s mine.”


	12. Chapter 12

Asmodeus chuckled as he stepped down the stairs with all of you still frozen where you were thrown. Goddamnit, you could hear his thick southern accent in his laugh. You looked up at him from where across the room, slowly pushing yourself to a sitting position. It was unclear at this point whether the fear or anger within you was overpowering the other. The bunker floor was cold and it stung your palms that had been scrapped in your fall. You didn’t bother trying to stand as your focus was torn between regaining the breath that was knocked out of you and watching Asmodeus’s every move. Your chest tightened and, despite your efforts, refused to breathe as Asmodeus neared you. For a moment you expected him to kill you right there, to place his hand on your head and send you up in smoke but he didn’t. Instead, he continued past you to Gabriel and yanked him up by the crook of his arm. 

~~~~~~~~~

“Bite me,” your bitter words were answered with a swift backhand across the face. You looked up at the demon in front of you, the chains securing you to the wall clanging as you settle back against the surface. The bags under your eyes were dark and a cut across your cheek was just healing, still days away from the condition of the other wound on your forehead. You held eye contact with the surly man in front of you, smiling darkly as you spit the blood from your mouth onto their face. He cringed before his expression turned sour. He growled, lunging forward to secure his grip around your throat. His thumb felt like it was going to push through your skin and there wasn’t a doubt in your mind that it would leave bruises but you held your smile the best you could, your eyes still locked on his. He eventually released you, moving silently to the chains securing your wrists. He motioned to the goonies he had positioned at the door, their firm grasps replacing the chains’ holds as they dragged you from the room and down the hall. You expected them to toss you back into your cell but your door came and went as they continued dragging you down the halls. They stopped at a similar room they had dragged you out of. It was the same general build, the four-walled cement enclosure, but instead of the faceted walls and menagerie of torture weapons, it held only a metal slab table and small working bench with a covered tray. It looked almost clinical but the type of clinical that you would enter and probably come out without your organs. The demons began to pull you toward the table and fear struck something deep within you, making a strangled noise escape your mouth as you dug your heels into the ground in protest. Despite your struggle, they pushed you onto the table with ease, securing your arms and legs so that you were face down against the icy metal. 

“So, darling,” you couldn’t see him but you recognized the demon’s voice. How could you not when it was all that you heard over the past two weeks of consistent slicing, starving, and sleep deprivation, “I heard, ” you shivered as a cold blade ran up a secured arm and you almost yelped as he ripped the back of your shirt open, “you’ve got a thing for angles.”

~~~~~~~~~

“Gabriel, boy, I missed you,” He spoke slowly, tightening his grip and to your horror, a low whimper escaped Gabriel’s mouth. Two Demons seemed to come from out of nowhere, hoisting Gabriel up further. Your eyes were fixed on him, the color drained from his face and eyes wide in terror. He was looking from face to face frantically as if you had just dragged him from hell and the past few days hadn’t happened at all. He was frantic again, you could see it, and with every strangled noise he made you felt your heart sink further down into your gut, “I’m afraid I’m gonna have to punish you rather severely,” That noise, that fearful guttural sound that came from Gabriel’s mouth was the one that broke you. In an instant you were up on your feet, closing the gap between you and Asmodeus. You were within a foot of him when a crushing blow came down on your leg. One of the demons, that you had somehow neglected in your rage, had nearly shattered your knee bringing you down to the ground, or almost to the ground, as Asmodeus pulled you slightly upwards via a handful of your hair. Your scalp burned and you grunted at the inability to move. 

“How are you alive,” you bit out, struggling to look up at him as he grinned down at you. 

“Your little toys weren’t made for the likes of me,” He laughed again, deep and heartily. It made your skin crawl, “And I had a little assistance,” his gaze shot back to Gabriel who refused eye contact now, opting for the floor, “I really should thank you, now I can collect two prizes,” His grip tightened and you let out another strangled noise as he pulled, “Where is the other angel anyhow,” he looked down at you, expecting an answer. 

“Bite me,” was all you said in return, venom dripping from your tone. His haughty grin faded in an instant, replaced with a disapproving glare. He let go of your hair and flicked his wrist in your direction, sending you flying across the room again. This time you collided with the far wall, your back hitting first then your head in a sort of whiplash. You knew you were on the ground now and someone was probably talking but all you here was ringing as sound faded in and out. You squeezed your eyes shut, your face close to the wall as you waited for your head to stop throbbing and your hearing to return.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

“Bitch,” you heard the bitter voice mumble as they threw you back into the cell, shutting the heavy metal door behind you with a loud thud. The chill of the dampened cement floor sunk into your skin as you laid where you landed, breathing in the musky air with your forehead against the cement.   
“Shit,” you huffed under your breath as you attempted to move, pain radiated through your back. Your back was wet and sticky with blood, the fabric of your ripped shirt clinging to the edges of your wounds. You had passed out halfway through the first wing but unfortunately, you awoke on the cold slab you were strapped to as the second wing was still being painstakingly etched into your skin. 

“Ahhh,” you groaned, forcing yourself up on your elbows and army crawling across the cell to the bare cot against the far wall, stopping a few times to rest before you made it. It took everything you had to pull yourself up, not bothering to smother your scream as you did so, every line in your back feeling like they were being etched in all over again before you finally collapsed on the cot. 

~~~~~~~~~

Finally, Asmodeus’s voice began to come into focus as the ringing dissipated but in that moment you preferred the ringing.   
“You go on and take him on up,” You heard him say, as you pushed yourself up to sit against the wall. The demons on either side of Gabriel obeyed without question, dragging a whimpering Gabriel up the steps, “And you two,” Asmodeus directed his attention now to Sam and Dean who had landed a few feet from you. He extended a fist with two fingers outward, so that it resembled a bull and they immediately began to groan, clutching their chests unable to speak. Panic filled you and your eyes shot up to Gabriel, struggling against the demons securing his arms on the top of the balcony. Two screams erupted from the demons as you watched them tumble over the edge, leaving Gabriel looking down at the four of you. You saw his eyes flash blue as Asmodeus snapped his head upward. 

“Gabriel,” he warned, drawing out his name like it somehow belonged to him. Gabriel rolled his shoulders back, the electric blue glow returning to his eyes and you saw Asmodeus’s body tense, “I broke you boy! You aren’t strong enough!” 

“Not anymore,” There it was. The strength and the charm that always ran through his veins returned as he stood tall, the shadow of his stretched out wings cast through the hazy red light onto the wall behind him. You could have sworn you saw Asmodeus shake, unable to tear his eyes from Gabriel’s gaze, “And by the way, I always hated that dumb ass suit,” you would have laughed if it wasn’t for the smoke radiating off of Asmodeus. For a second is was just his suit, then smoke seemed to roll off of his skin. A flame sparked and with a blood-curdling scream he went up in flames. The brightness of the fire made you squint but it was out in an instant, replaced with nothing but a lingering cloud of smoke where he was standing. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So you opted for crispy fried, I like it,” you laughed weakly at Gabriel who was sat across from you on the steps leading to the war room. Before he could respond Sam stepped between the two of you, gaining both of your attention. 

“Ready?” He was tucking his gun into his waistband as he spoke to you.

“Yep,” you pushed yourself up, groaning from the soreness in your midsection. Your head still throbbed slightly and you took a moment to steady yourself as the room spun. Thankfully no one noticed or simply didn’t think it worth mentioning.

“Alright, we should be back before the morning, I’ve already talked with Dean,” Sam gestured to where you assumed Dean was in the kitchen. You walked just a little bit past Sam and he turned to leave with you as Gabriel stood up

“Actually, guys, I think I’m gonna bounce,” You furrowed your brow in confusion. He looked between the two of you rather awkwardly. 

“G-Gabriel,” Sam started in protest as the angel walked past him.

“You’re just up and going,” you finished, turning to him with a hint of anger and surprise in your voice. 

“Asmodeus and done for and I’ve got most of my mojo back so..” He trailed off, walking to the bottom of the stairs and you followed him with Sam right behind you. 

“You can’t just leave,” Sam interjected, “What about Lucifer,” he earned a half-assed bitch face from Gabriel.

“Ya, well not that this hasn’t been, what’s the opposite of fun,” he stopped as he searched for the word, “well, that but it looks like you’ve got it under control.” You couldn’t believe what you were hearing. The past few days hadn’t been a picnic but you hadn’t expected him just to leave. 

“Gabe,” you stepped forward and grabbed his wrist, your grip lose as you stared at him. 

“Hope I’ll see you soon cupcake,” he said sadly but with a hint of a smile before he vanished, leaving You, with your arm still extended, and Sam alone in the room.


	13. Chapter 13

The gravel crunched under the wheels as the Impala slowed to a stop near an expansive lake that was tucked behind acres of trees. They had left soon after Gabriel had taken off and It had taken them almost an hour of driving down dirt roads to find it after already driving several hours through small towns. A hazy grey fell over the entire picture, though, the darkened clouds never quite manifested into a storm. It gave the dreary impression that you were looking at a long faded image rather than reality. Sam took the keys from the ignition as you removed your feet from the dash, pushing yourself up into a proper sitting position. Your fingers unconsciously rubbed the warm leather seats of the Impala as your brow knitted in confusion, your gaze finding the burnt ruins of what looked like it was once a relatively large house. There was something of a foundation left with a partial of a brick wall still standing amongst the charred planks. A dock led up from the lake to what was probably once a back porch and it seemed intact from where you were sitting. Sam had already shut the door behind him and was standing beside the car. You followed suit, shutting the car door and briefly noting the dirt that had dusted the underside and sides of the Impala. Dean was definitely going to kill ya’ll. A sigh escaped your lips as you held your gaze on the ruins of the house.

“So what, this is it? Did they just leave and torch the place,” you asked, groaning slightly.

“Let’s uh,” Sam sighed and looked for words, clearly frustrated a bit by the situation too, “Let’s look around a bit.”

“Alright,” you agreed, pushing yourself from your leaning position on the car. Sam followed you to the house as you stepped over the burnt planks scattered about. Plants had grown up around many of them, pulling the remains of the house into the infrastructure of the landscape. Sam made his way to the standing wall as you passed through the house and were now treading along the creaking boards of the dock. Your gaze fell to the murky water and it drew you in. It was almost inky and an uneasy feeling swirled in your gut. There was something about the lake that gave you the sense that something was lurking just underneath the surface. You pulled your eyes from the water, pivoting on your heels and looking back to Sam who was gazing out over the lake from the wall. A small brick shed came into view a few yards behind Sam.

“What about that,” you didn’t quite yell but you came close to it, pointing behind Sam. He turned to follow your gaze as you climbed up to stand beside him. It was only a few feet wide and Sam would almost have to duck if he wanted to get in. You slowly opened its thick wooden door, making sure your other hand gripped your gun tightly, ready to pull it from your waistband in an instant if needed. The door creaked open, revealing a small empty space with a singular circle on the floor that appeared to be a manhole cover, “Oh you’ve gotta be kidding me.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You dropped down after Sam, swinging so that you would land on your feet. You coughed as the dust filled your lungs and clouded your vision slightly. Luckily Sam had thought to run back and grab a flashlight from the car because wherever they were was pitch black other than the soft haze from outside of the shack that barely made its way through the hole above them. Sam clicked the light on and shown it in front of you, revealing a long concrete stretch of a hallway. It remarkably similar to the bunker, giving it an oddly familiar sense. You turned with the light as Sam shown it behind the two of you, revealing only a concrete wall.

“Well, I guess I don’t need to ask which way,” you quipped before you began walking down the hallway, drawing your gun and gripping it, pointed at the floor in front of you. After a couple of feet, you stopped briefly to look at the traditional Men of Letters symbol of metal, inlaid into the wall. The light from the flashlight glinted off of the star-like shape before moving past it, deeper into the black abyss of the hallway. You finally reached what seemed to be the hallway’s end as you both came to a door that was identical to those of your bedrooms in the bunker.

“What do you think’s in there,” you asked in a hushed tone, gesturing to the door.

“Only one way to find out,” Sam responded and you quirked an eyebrow concedingly, though, you doubted he saw it in the dim light. You reached for the handle but Sam grabbed your arm.

“I can go in first,” He offered. You knew he was serious and trying to be caring but you couldn’t help a small laugh.

“I dragged you here Sammy,” you reached pulled from his grasp with your words and cautiously opened the door, raising your gun as Sam shined the flashlight passed the door frame. You squinted, trying to make out anything telling within the room. The floor before you seemed to be fragmented but your attention was captured by the long stretch of what could have been an upturned roof tile that began on the wall beside you and continued into the blackness, “Oh,” you let out as you strode to it, digging out a lighter from your pocket and igniting the contents of the tile. The flame continued down its length and you repeated your action on the other side of the room. You stood back in worry and in awe as the room finally illuminated, revealing a series of various sized stone tiles with markings on them making up the floor.

“Is that Enochian,” Sam observed rather than questioned as he clicked the flashlight off. A small smile crept onto your face and you turned to Sam.

“Ever see Indiana Jones Sammy?” He looked at you and scoffed.

“Are you smiling?” He questioned accusingly causing you to shrug.

“I mean,” you began looking for the right term, “It’s kind of cool. You know, other than the ominous room impending death part,” Sam returned your words with his signature bitch face, before squatting to get a better look at the markings.

“How do you suppose we get across,” Instead of answering him, you simply returned your attention to the markings, biting the inside of your cheek as you contemplated your options. Suddenly, an idea occurred to you and you got down on your hands and knees, before lying down with your cheek pressed against the stone so that you could see the markings from another angle. Your eyes scanned each stone tile for a minute or two before you jumped back up to your feet.

“I think it’s a code,” you were talking mainly to yourself but it was loud enough for Sam to hear you.

“Ya,” he agreed, his eyes still glued to the tiles, “There could be an infinite number of options, though, and we get it wrong-”

“If we get it wrong,” you cut him off, “We’ll probably find out what those do,” Sam followed your pointer finger to the plethora of holes in the ceiling, spread out over the tiles so that no matter where you were standing whatever they had in store would hit its mark, “Damn the bunker is the actual headquarters and it isn’t like this at all. Whoever made this place is an asshole.” Both of you paced along the edge of the tiles, trying to figure out the best way to proceed, “Look,” you pointed to the second tile from the one directly in front of you, “There’s a boot mark on that one,” you pointed out. Sam peered over you and nodded in agreement.

“Here,” Sam had moved a few feet to the right and pointed at a tile two over and three up from the one you had pointed out. It bore a similar mark to the other.  
“Wait a minute,” you paused with your thoughts, furrowing your brow as you looked between the tiles, “This tile is fam,” you pointed at the first tile with the boot mark, “That one is graph,” you moved your pointer finger to the tile Sam had mentioned, “and that one,” you spotted a mark near the other side of the room, “is Ur, which would be S, E, and L.”

“You think it’s a word?” Sam questioned.

“I think the code is letters as in ‘men of letters’,” You explained, still glaring at the tiles.

“What if you’re wrong,” Sam warned, looking at you intently.

“Well,” you gestured a little too nonchalantly at the openings above you, “I’m not fluent in Enochian but I think it’s our best shot,” you paused again, stepping a bit closer to the tiles. Without another word, you stepped on the first marked tile. Sam let out a noise of protest as you held your breath—nothing—exhale, “See Sammy,” His expression was an odd but familiar mixture of anger and relief, “You can give me a lecture later, hand me the flashlight,” Sam begrudgingly complied, easily stretching out his long arm to you.

“So far so good,” Sam encouraged as you turned back around to the tiles.

“Ok,” you whispered to yourself, “the next letter should be R, which would be…” your last word drew out as your eyes scanned for and found the Enochian symbol. As soon as you found it, you carefully tossed the flashlight. It managed to hit the letter but only partially, as the handle hit the tile beside it, causing a dark to shoot out at alarming speed from the ceiling. It landed and bounced, dead center on the tile, causing your stomach to twist, “Shit,” You glanced back at Sam who looked as worried as you. You let out a sigh before stepping to the letter anyway. Another sigh left both of you in relief, “E,” you stepped again, “T, T,” you stepped twice more, “E and, “ you stepped on the final letter, “L,” You finally reached the other side of the room and you bent over smiling as relief flooded you, “Alright Sammy,” you turned around to look at him across the room, “Your turn.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucifer knew he was dreaming but he couldn’t remember going to sleep. All he remembered was a sharp blinding pain, radiating through his wings.

“Luci, I’m home,” Lucifer’s head snapped up to Gabriel in front of him. Where was he? Lucifer found himself walking toward his brother, arms opened and welcoming, “Not this time,” He heard Gabriel say. It was then he noticed the angel blade in his hand. Oh, this was a memory, or at least similar to one. Kali wasn’t at his feet and he was sure that his mental rendition of the hotel wasn’t perfect.

“Over a girl, really, I knew you were slumming but I hope you didn’t catch anything,” Lucifer heard the words leave his own mouth as he watched his brother circle him, blade raised. He wanted to yell out, to tell his brother to stop, that he would stop, but all he could do was relive his actions.

“Lucifer, you’re my brother and I love you but you’re a great big bag of dicks,” Gabriel quipped, and Lucifer felt a sharp pang of sadness in his chest.

“What did you just say to me,” Lucifer asked, stepping toward him. He knew what he had said. He had heard it before but no matter how loudly he screamed inside his head, the words kept spilling, involuntarily from his mouth. Suddenly he felt the room spinning and in an instant, he was even closer to Gabriel, tears welling up in his eyes, “I know where your heart truly lies. He spun around, driving the angel blade into his brothers gut. He could feel it sink into his body. He could feel the heat radiating from him and he could see the look in Gabriel’s eyes. He could see the glazed over eyes filled with hurt and betrayal looking up at him. He could see the eyes that were burned into his brain. Lucifer felt as if he was banging on the walls of his mind, trying desperately to escape. He screamed with everything he had but all that left his mouth was, “Don’t forget, you learned all your tricks from me, little brother,” As his hand twisted the blade, leaving the charred mark of wings across the wood floor.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ok, that one’s next. It’s the other T is looks the same as the one you’re standing on.” Sam stepped across the tiles, landing safely on the next tile. He didn’t need direction for the next letter, stepping easily onto the following tile, “One more,” you pointed to the stone in front of you, baring the letter that appeared similar to a C with two lines on it’s back. Sam stepped forward, his first foot landing squarely on the tile. His other leg followed, but his heal teetered over the edge to the next tile. Your breath caught in your chest as you heard the release of air sound. Your eyes widened as did Sam’s. Instinctually, you reached out and pulled him over to the other side of the room. Sam groaned and fell to his knees, pulling the dart from his shoulder.

“Sam!” you called out as his eyes gean to glaze over, “Sammy,” panic invaded your voice as he went limp in your arms that were now around him, “Shit, shit, come on Sammy,” you laid him flat on the floor, pressing your fingers to his neck to check his post—nothing.


	14. Chapter 14

You couldn’t breathe. Sam laid motionless at your feet and you couldn’t breathe. Your eyes stung with the threat of tears and your heart pounded in your ears as you tore your eyes from him, only to frantically scan the room, your gaze tracing the lettered tiles, the holes in the ceiling, the stains on the cement floor.

“Alright,” you breathed out quietly to yourself, “ Shit,” your eyes fell to Sam again, your view briefly obstructed as you ran a hand over your face, “Shit,” you squeezed your eyes shut as you tried to get your thoughts together. With one last glance at Sam’s—you couldn’t bring yourself to use the word lifeless—body, you sprinted into the darkness that awaited you on the other side of the tiles. You were surprised to find a hallway similar to the one you first walked down. The more primitive, cave-like architecture had given way to the pristine and familiar style of the bunker. You kept the light of your flashlight halfway on the floor in front of you and halfway skimming the wall to your left, occasionally flicking it up to the right wall in search of a door or fork in the hallway. Luckily, you had only ventured a few yards when you reached a door, the flashlight gleaming off of the slightly raised Men of Letters symbol inlaid into the wood. You managed to hold the flashlight in your mouth as your hand reached the door handle, the other pulling your gun from your waistband. You weren’t sure what you were expecting, giant swinging blades perhaps? Instead, a cloud of dust billowed from the room as you opened the door, taking the flashlight from your mouth and shining it into the darkness. From the doorway, it looked like a simple file room with a few rows of boxes and a cabinet or two. The cement floor faded to a carpeted one as you stepped in. You only entered slightly, scanning each shelf and wall from just inside the doorway. A switch caught your eye near the doorway and you flicked it without giving it much thought. A faint electrical whine echoed above you before overhead lights flickered on, giving off a hazy glow that illuminated much of the dust floating throughout the room. You squinted at the sudden change in brightness, setting the flashlight on the ground before making your way to the shelf closest to you. You had briefly scanned a few feet of boxes when you remembered the piece of ripped off notebook paper you had shoved in your pocket. Pulling it from your pocket and unfolding it, you read, “263-A.” Well, the lettering and numbering seemed to match the room. That was good at least. You fingering trailed along the labels on the shelves, ghosting just above them as your eyes followed.

“257, 258, 259,” you whispered to yourself as you searched, “263-A,” you sighed as your finger rested against the label on a medium-sized box at your eye level. Your heart began beating faster as you slid it from the shelf. A cloud of dust flew out with it, making you cough. You nearly dropped the box as you tried to regain your breath but managed to set it down unharmed. The lid wasn’t taped down and in hindsight, cardboard boxes were an odd choice for precious spells, information, and artifacts but you supposed later on that they probably had no reason to fear anyone not supposed to be there would be rifling through their files. For what felt like the hundredth time that week, your heart sunk as your eyes fell to books in the box. You fell to your knees, pulling the books out with one arm shielding your face from the dust. Language books, lore, that was all that was there. You checked the label again, holding the piece of paper beside it. It matched, 263-A.

“Goddamnit,” you bit out, rubbing both of your hands over your face. You sighed again before kicking the box from where you sat. That turned out to be a mistake as dust once again pillowed outward, making you cough, “Fuck,” you groaned again. You hadn’t had time to process many of the events of the last few weeks but there was something about the dark eerie atmosphere of the bunker’s outpost that made everything weigh down on you. Maybe it was Lucifer, still unconscious in the bunker, or Sam lying on the cement floor down the hall. Maybe it was the fact that your best friend had up and left or that, what felt like your last chance of healing Lucifer had slipped through your fingers. Whatever it was, it had tears spilling from your eyes, “We can’t get a fucking break,” you practically yelled, pushing yourself up on your feet, “I can’t,” you violently pulled another box from the shelf as tears continued to streak down your cheeks, “ get,” another box fell, “A fucking,” again, you threw two more boxes down, “Break,” finally your hands landed on the top of a desk at the back of the room, your palms pressing against the wood as you hung your head. You pushed yourself up and trudged to the chair on the opposite side of the desk, throwing yourself down into it. A sigh escaped your lips once more as a glint of red and a blue caught your eye from under the desk. You held yourself with one forearm against the desk as you reached underneath with the other, sliding the object further into the light. A vase came into view, painted with ornate floral patterns in a brick red and deep blue against an eggshell ceramic surface. With one quick motion, you lifted the surprisingly heavy vase onto the desk. Your fingers ran along the curls of the flowers stems and along the petals before your forefinger skimmed across the edge of a square. You swiveled the vase in order to see, what appeared as a label, clearer. ‘263-A,’ you read as your eyes widened, “Wait,” you gasped out loud, quickly removing the lid. Peering inside, your eyes were met with a plethora of a yellowish goo. A large smile spread on your face as you returned the lid, quickly jumping from the chair and making your way down the hallway. You nearly ran, lugging the vase with you, until you made it back to Sam, unbreathing and unmoving from where you had left him.

“Hang in there Sammy,” you coaxed, turning his body slightly so that you could better reach the area where the dart had hit him. Ripping the sleeve of his shirt, you applied a generous amount of the slave, whipping your hands on the torn piece of fabric. You hovered over him, hardly breathing yourself as you waited for any sign of movement, “Sammy,” you breathed out again, your eyes glued to his relaxed features. Suddenly, his eyes shot open, making your heart leap with surprise and joy as he inhaled deeply as if he had come up above the waves.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“How ya feeling,” you couldn’t help but smile even if a hint of worry still clouded your tone as you pulled up to the bunker.

“I’m fine,” Sam answered, pausing a moment as his finger traced his shoulder, still bare from the fabric being ripped, “Surprisingly good actually.”

“Good,” you slapped his knee with your word, pulling the keys out of the ignition and hopping out. You felt lighter as you entered the bunker, vase tucked under your arm. The bunker’s door creaked open and you felt like stepping in was a breath of fresh air, “Dean we’re,” You yelled out from the balcony only to be met by Dean slamming his laptop shut from where he was sitting at the war room table below.

“Umm,” Sam mumbled from behind you.

“I’m not even gonna ask,” you laughed, looking at Dean’s ‘Deer in headlights’ expression.

“You got it,” Dean said, breaking the tension as he stood to meet your stride toward him.

“Yep,” you smiled lifting the vase slightly with your gesture.

“And ya’ll are…” He trailed off looking between you and Sam

“We’re good,” Sam finished, causing you to glance back at him.

“We’ve got a hell of a story but we’re fine,” you looked back again at Sam briefly, who smiled slightly at you, “How is he,” your smile faltered slightly as concern invaded your tone.

“He’s less annoying than usual,” Dean quipped, earning a death glare from you, “Still comatose,” He clarified and you nodded, moving past him and making your way down the hallway. You entered Lucifer’s room slowly, feeling your heart ache as your eyes found his form, still passed out on the bed. Setting the vase on the bedside table, you carefully removed his shirt and rolled him onto his stomach so that you had access to his back. You weren’t able to touch or even see his wings without him manifesting them, which in his current state was out of the question, so you hoped that his back would do, given that it was the base of his wings anyway.

“Alright Luce,” you spoke softly to him as you scooped out salve from the vase with one hand. Carefully you began rubbing the salve along his upper and mid back, especially around his shoulder blades, “That should do it,” you exclaimed, still keeping your voice below a normal speaking tone. After a moment, a soft groan escaped Lucifer’s lips and a sigh came from yours. Another, louder groan, followed as his arms shifted, “Hey,” you confronted, placing your hands on either side of his arms so that you could guide him into a sitting position. He blinked drearily at you, his hair sticking up in every direction, “How ya feeling?”

“I’m,” He began, his voice ruff before he rolled his shoulder back, “Good,” a hint of a familiar smirk played at his lips as he continued rolling his shoulder and neck, feeling the movement of his joints.

“Told you I’d figure something out,” You gestured to the vase still on the bedside table.

“So you did,” He turned his head upward to you, scrunching his nose slightly and you couldn’t help but smile.

“No thanks to your stubborn ass,” you laughed, leaning down to press a light kiss on his lips as his arms lazily wrapped themselves around your waist, pulling you in closer to him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“He left,” Lucifer questioned solemnly from his seat across from you in the bunker. Sam had retreated to his room and Dean said something about going for a drive. After hearing that Sam had almost died in that hole of a place.

“Yeah,” you responded, leaning back in your chair with a sigh.

“I guess running from those you're supposed to love runs in the family,” There was an undeniable hint of bitterness in his voice and you knew he was alluding to his father but there was something else too, “He does love you, you know,” He finally added after a moment.

“I know,” the words left your lips a little too sadly as your eyes fell to the table in front of you, focusing on nothing in particular, “He told me.”

“Oh he did, did he? And..?” Lucifer probed hesitantly.

“And what?” your eyes snapped back up to his, “What was I supposed to say, luce? I love him, I do. He’s been my best friend for what feels like ever and getting him back-” you cut yourself off, thinking about the angel as your eyes returned to the table. He had been your best friend since you met him on that vamp hunt really. You were kindred spirits but he was like Sam and Dean to you, a brother.

“You should have went with him,” Lucifer’s spoke, his words drawing you from your thoughts.

“What,” you questioned as you tried to process what he had said, “I fought for you. I stayed for you and I left for you so that you are here now and not dying on that bed,” you gestured to the hallway where he had been staying. Your words were harsh but your tone was calm and not unfeeling, “And what? You think I don’t give a damn about you?”

“You’re the only one who hasn’t drunk the Kool-aid in this place,” He was averting his gaze from you as he spoke.

“Damn right,” you laughed, standing up and moving to stand beside him, “This world, this life is majorly fucked. I don’t know what’s in the cards for any of us but this,” you let a hand slide to the side of his cheek, angling his head so that he was looking up at you, “I want to give it a real shot.” His curious and weary expression faded with your words, replaced by his signature devilish smirk that you hadn’t seen in forever. He pushed you back slightly as he stood up, resting his hands on your hips.

“The devil and a Winchester, who would have thought?”

“I’m not a Winchester,” a similar smirk was begging to form on your lips and he scoffed at your words.

“You practically are love,” you did have to give him that and the thought of it actually made your smile grow larger.

“You know what?” You quirked an eyebrow at him as your voice took on a mischievous tone.

“What?” He questioned curiously and almost cautiously as he gauged your expression.

“You’re alive. I think we should celebrate,” His curious expression remained, silently requesting you to continue. You leaned in and pressed yourself up slightly on your toes so that you were speaking directly into his ear, “Maybe we could give those sparkling new wings of yours a test run.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was well into the night when you headed down from your room to where you knew Dean would have the tv set up. It had been a stressful day, hell, it had been a stressful couple of weeks, and the prospect of a movie night with the boys sounded really good. It was something simple, something that felt pleasantly out of place in the hunting life. You rounded the corner, prepared to say something about it being your turn to pick when you stopped in your tracks. Sam and Dean were already seated, as was Lucifer but standing in front of the tv was Gabriel who beamed at you.

“Gabe?”

“Hey cupcake, couldn’t pass up my turn to pick now could I?” He smirked, holding an unmarked DVD in his hands along the edges so that he didn’t smudge it.

“I suppose not,” there was something questioning in your voice as you sat next to Lucifer, snuggling into his side.

“Now prepare,” Gabriel began in an announcer’s voice, “For the piece de resistance of bunker movie nights,” He bowed dramatically with the disk and both you and Dean rolled your eyes as he placed the disk in the DVD player. Your brow furrowed curiously as odd music began to play on the screen as the camera slowly panned up to a scantily clad women.

“What is-” your question was cut off by a knock on the door in the movie. The women opened it and your eyes widened.

“I have the Kabasa you ordered.”

“Gabe,” you reprimanded standing up quickly. Dean had beaten you to the DVD player, taking the disk out with a muttered ‘what the fuck.’ You couldn’t help but laugh as he simply shrugged, plopping himself down on the other side of Sam.


End file.
